From its high position at an altitude of 1604 metres, Fort du Randouillet's purpose was to protect the Fort des Têtes from potential attackers, whilst controlling access to the Cervières valley.

The upper part of the fort consists of a dungeon, inside which are the major elements of defence. The fort's lower level housed the barracks buildings. From 1724 onwards, work began to strengthen this collection of fortifications under the supervision of the Marquis of Asfeld. A two hundred metre long covered gallery, the "y communication route " blocked the small Fontchristiane valley to link the Fort du Randouillet and the Fort des Têtes. The town was connected to these two forts by the Asfeld bridge, which spanned the two banks of the Durance at the bottom of a fifty metre deep gorge. The linking of these forts now formed a veritable barrier of fortifications.
However, advances in artillery and tensions with the neighbouring Italians led to the construction of new forts from 1882 onwards, in order to provide security for the most important passes.
Fort du Randouillet 05100 Briançon Briançon Tourist Information Office Tours are often organised for you to visit the fortified town, the high-altitude forts and the monuments in the Briançon area. Tel. + 33 (0) 4 92 21 08 50 Fax + 33 (0) 4 92 20 56 45 E-mail: office-tourisme-briancon@wanadoo.fr

Overlooking the valleys of the Fontenil and Fontchristiane, the Fort des Têtes is the cornerstone of the city’s fortified defences and the most important structure in the part of the network built in the 18^th century.

The wrinkles and steps in the fort’s defences show the engineers’ stubbornness in resolutely defending Briançon, which was on the front lines after the transalpine Dauphiné was lost in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Back in 1700, Vauban had understood the importance of the Plateau des Trois Têtes, which overlooks the city beyond the Durance. In 1709, Marshal de Berwick set up an entrenched camp which was very useful in 1711 and 1712. From 1721 to 1733, the Marquis d'Asfeld, director general of fortifications, and the engineers Tardif and Nègre reorganised the structure into a permanent fort with bastioned fronts. Larger than the citadel of Briançon, the fort could house about a thousand men and materiel.

The use of the relief as an obstacle, the compartmentalisation of the defences brought about by the successive sieges, the firepower of the seventy-two embrasures combined with the neighbouring forts attest to the extraordinary mastery of mountain fortifications acquired by the King’s engineers. Access. Briançon is located at the intersection of the N91 and N94 highways, 87 km from Gap, 116 km from Grenoble and 125 km from Turin, Italy.

Office Briançonnais du Tourisme

Visits are often organised to show you the fortified city, the high-altitude forts and the monuments of Briançon.
Tél. 04.92.21.08.50 Fax 04.92.20.56.45
E-mail : office-tourisme-briancon@wanadoo.fr

Office Briançonnais du Tourisme website

Quiz: Fortifications

The Lion of Belfort in Place Denfert-Rochereau (Paris XIVème Arrondissement) in the Parisian Exhibition Saloon of 1878, Bartholdi exhibited his final plaster model, which measures one third of his Lion of Belfort. A piece that, since a couple of years opposed him to the city of Belfort. But this controversy does not seem to affect the local council of Paris which is very attracted by the lion and which will acquire/buy it for a total amount of 20000frs. The sculpture is then entrusted to the Monduit centre - executor of the "statue of liberty" - , in order to be create a replica of hammered copper and installed in 1880 in Denfert-Rochereau.

A place that Bartholdi didn't really expect, as a correspondence written to a friend in 1879 testifies : "Je voulais vous voir ce matin pour vous annoncer la bonne nouvelle. Le conseil municipal de Paris a décidé l'acquisition du Lion de Belfort ; il sera très probablement érigé aux Buttes-Chaumont. Je crois que cela pourra offrir des horizons nouveaux et nous essaierons de faire quelque chose avec la vente de photographies (...). La décision du conseil municipal n'est pas simplement une acquisition d'oeuvre d'art intéressante ; c'est un hommage au patriotisme alsacien ; c'est indirectement un hommage au patriotisme de la population de Paris pendant le siège. C'est un souvenir du passé mis sous les yeux de la population, en vue de l'avenir... Il peut être bon d'entamer un peu l'olifant sur cette belle matière, pour moi sculpteur dans l'intérêt de l'oeuvre, pour nous Français pour y attacher le véritable sentiment patriotique que cela doit entretenir sous les yeux du public. A vous de souffler dans l'olifant là ou vous pouvez. La décision a été votée à l'unanimité du Conseil... Zing... Boum... peut-être fera-t-on un fête patriotique, et cela embêtera les bons Allemands et leurs amis les bonapartistes " (Quotation: Batholdi's letter to his friend).
The monument measuring 4 meters height and 7 meters length is very successful in the capital. The first celebration of the 14th of July takes place the same year of its installation and attracts a huge crowd of people to the Denfert square. The celebrations include parades, concerts and all kind of attractions. A success that was not contradicted in more than a century, as Agnès VARDA testifies in the following words (journal Libération on august 22nd 2003): Taking Boulevard Rapail, passing through the Cartier foundation you reach Denfert-Rochereau square. It' is the Place de l'Etoile of the XIV arrondissement, with it's green avenues. At the time of the town dues it was the barrier of hell. This Lion, installed in the centre of the square is a copy of the one sculptured by Bartholdi, paying tribute to colonel Denfert-Rochereau who defended the city (in 1870). But why this Franc-Comptois Lion in Paris? And why there? To the question "what should be done to embellish the city?" André Breton had answered this way : "give a big bone to gnaw to the Lion of Belfort and turn him towards the west." As far as turning the sculpture towards the west is concerned, it was done. For the bone, I saw it one morning when I filmed the Lion "le Lion volatil (2000 et 2003), 12 minutes" (Quotation: Movie title). A fortune-teller apprentice and a catacomb employee use place Denfert as the surrounding of their romance and the lion as a witness of their end (it is possible to visit the catacombs. You can enter from one of the town dues buildings, cerated by Ledoux). For sure my short film will be presented in the little cult cinema the Denfert. Les Guichard make a special and varied scheduling. And two years later since 2000, once a week they prolong the exclusiveness of my documentary . Hello neighbours! And hello demonstrators leaving from Denfert ! " I live in Paris XIV and not in Paris. By convenience or simply by laziness I hang around the neighbourhood near where I live. I will be buried in the same place where Jacques rests, just some steps from our house and our final residence".
In 2001 the lion, worn by time, pollution and the student's demonstrations, was the object of an important restoration. And if one day you decide to discover this piece of art, don't forget to take a visit in the cemetery of Montparnasse, where the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste BARTHOLDI rests.

Deeply affected by the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 in which he was actively involved, notably alongside Garibaldi, and devastated by the loss of Alsace, the region in which he was born, Auguste BARTHOLDI (1834 - 1904) created many works related to this conflict. Here is a brief introduction to his creations and to the museum dedicated to one of the most important exponents of sculpture in the 19th century ... Located at 30 rue des marchands, in the sculptor's childhood home - a vast 17th century private hotel in the centre of Colmar - the Bartholdi Museum houses the largest collection of sketches, models, and sculptures but also drawings, photographs and paintings produced by the creator best known for his Statue of Liberty and Lion of Belfort.

The decision to create a museum devoted to the famous sculptor dates back to 25 June 1907, when Jeanne-Emilie Bartholdi, the artist's widow, decided to bequeath the ancestral home on rue des Marchands to the town of Colmar, on the condition that the town would make it into a museum to protect and exhibit all the "furniture, sculptures, architectural works, paintings, engravings, objects of art, the library, etc." found at the time of his death in his house at 82 rue d'Assas in Paris, the address of the sculptor's last flat and workshop.
Although Jeanne Bartholdi died on 12 October 1914, the public had to wait until 18 November 1922 for the inauguration of the new museum. Spread over three floors, it occupied the north and west wings of the building. A series of photographs that were fortunately saved bear witness to the very first layouts of the permanent exhibition halls that mainly aimed to recreate the very Parisian and opulent lifestyle led by the artist in his childhood home. Thanks to a very praiseworthy museum technique, the grand hall on the ground floor, known as the "hall of models", was allotted to the meticulous presentation of a vast collection of models of statues and monuments (in terracotta, grey clays and plaster) created by the sculptor. Unfortunately, the increasing and widespread disinterest in 19th century art shown by many intellectuals and most of the museum visitors during the 20th century in general led to the "hall of models" being allocated for temporary exhibitions of modern regional artists and Bartholdi's works being relegated to various storage areas, a decision that was not without damages and losses. The building was even temporarily closed before reopening again in 1979. Since then, the renovation and extension of the permanent exhibition halls, the restoration and acquisition of works and the organisation of themed exhibitions with associated catalogues have all contributed to the conservation of the collections and the renown of the name of Auguste Bartholdi.
Visitors enter the museum courtyard via a covered passageway. At the centre of this courtyard lies Bartholdi's bronze group statue, 'Les Grand Soutiens du Monde' (The World's Great Bases) representing Justice, Labour and the Motherland, which was exhibited at the 'Salon de Paris' in 1902. The main entrance to the museum is located to the right of the courtyard. It is a Renaissance doorway, brought to Colmar and installed in the second half of the 19th century by Bartholdi during the refurbishment of the family home with three overhanging sculptures in moulded concrete, Bartholdi's work, representing two heraldic lions flanking a human-like ram. Inside, the museum occupies 3 stories and a total surface area of 700 m². On the ground floor, the Hall of Artworks from Alsace and Colmar unites Bartholdi's work linked to his native region - 'La Borne Frontière' (the border milestone), 'la Malédiction de l'Alsace' (the curse of Alsace) or 'la Suisse secourant les douleurs de Strasbourg' (Switzerland aiding the suffering of Alsace) - as well as models and certain original elements of monuments erected in Colmar (Monument Rapp, Le Petit Vigneron, Les Grands Soutiens du Monde, etc.).
In the left wing on the first floor are Bartholdi's living quarters, which include his office, a music room and notably the very elegant dining room with a coffered ceiling encrusted with China. It is also in this room that the visitor will find a series of portraits of Bartholdi's ancestors from between the 17th and 19th centuries. On the central table and the sideboards are china dishes and ceramics signed by Théodore Deck, the director of the Sèvres china factory and Bartholdi's friend. Finally, the Napoleon III room contains a large portrait of the sculptor's mother Charlotte Bartholdi, painted in 1855 by Ary Scheffer, as well as portraits of Auguste Bartholdi and his wife, painted by Jean Benner an artist from nearby Mulhouse.
The right wing of the house leads into the library, then on to the rooms containing Orientalist artworks allotted to the works produced by the artist during and after his first trip to the Orient (Egypt-Yemen, 1855-1856). On this floor, the visitor will also find the impressive hall of models containing models of most of the statues and public monuments created by Bartholdi for French towns, with the exception of Colmar: Vauban (Avallon, 1873), Gribeauval (Paris, courtyard of the Hôtel des Invalides, 1876), the Lion of Belfort (1880), Rouget de Lisle (Lons-le-Saunier, 1882), Diderot (Langres, 1884), Gambetta (Sèvres, 1892), Monumental Fountain (Lyon, place des Terreaux, 1892). It also contains numerous rough preparatory models in terracotta and a series of bronze models: The Lion of Belfort, the Statuette Equestre de Vercingétorix, Les Sept Souabes (1855), Le Génie Dans les Griffes de la Misère (1859), Statuette of Vauban (1870) and the Statuette du Fondeur Thiébaut (1899).
Finally, the second floor is totally devoted to American artworks. The visitor will discover original models, prints and old photographs related to the fountain in the Botanic Garden (New York), the low reliefs of Battle Street Church (Boston), the monument to La Fayette and Washington (New York and Paris), not forgetting, of course 'La Liberté Eclairant le Monde' (New York), better known as the Statue of Liberty. In stark contrast to certain bland museums built nowadays, the museum dedicated to Bartholdi has a soul. Through the works on display, it plunges the visitor into 19th century history, at the heart of the Third Republic born of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871.
Guided visits for groups in French, German, English, Italian, and Japanese on appointment through the Tourist Office Museum opening hours: Daily except Tuesday from 10:00 to midday and from 14:00 to 18:00 Closed in January and February and on 1 May, 11 November and 25 December Admissions:(ticket desk closes 1 hour before museum closing time) Individuals Adults: €4.10 Students: €2.50 Groups (10 persons +) Adults: €2.60 Students: €1.50 Free for children under 12 years old Contacts: Musée Municipal Bartholdi 30, rue des Marchands 68000 Colmar, France Tel.: +33 (0)3 89 41 90 60 Fax: +33 (0)3 89 23 50 77 E-mail: musees@ville-colmar.com

Halfway between the island of Oléron and the island of Aix to which it is attached, the impressive silhouette of Fort Boyard stands proudly like a "stone warship" perched on the fortified reefs. Shortly after the construction of the naval shipyard at Rochefort, the location of the current fort was the subject of a study that concluded that it was impossible to build a defensive structure on the sand bank that ran alongside Boyard.

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, who would later become the General Commissioner for the Kingdom's fortifications, wrote the following to King Louis XIV: "Sire, it would be easier to grasp the moon between your teeth than to undertake such work on this site". Failing to materialise for technical reasons, the idea of building a defensive fort was dropped. Fouras, la Rochelle and the islands of Aix and Oléron were strategic positions that controlled access to the Charente until the beginning of the 19th Century. However, the protection of Rochefort and its channel by all these sites proved ineffective, as they were too far away from the corridor taken by the ships leaving the naval shipyard.
Robbed of its strategic importance, it became a target for German troops carried out target practice against its walls during the Second World War. The start of its film career dates back to 1966, when its upper level was used as the setting for the final scene in Robert Enrico's film "les aventuriers" ("The Last Adventurer") with Lino Ventura and Alain Delon. In 1980, the fort was bought by an audiovisual production company and then donated to the Charente-Maritime General Council, resulting in it being used for the purpose for which it is now world famous. No longer open to the public due to its new television vocation, its surroundings can still be seen from one of the many pleasure boats offering tourists a close up view.
Its defensive purpose reduced to nothing because of advances in artillery, it was used as a detention centre from 1870 onwards: a military prison for Prussian and Austrian soldiers and then a place of detention for hundreds of communards, before being abandoned after 1913.
 

Mairie of the island of Aix

Rue Gourgaud 17123 Ile d'Aix

Tel. + 33 (0) 5 46 84 66 09

Fax + 33 (0) 5 46 84 65 79

E-mail: mairie@iledaix.fr

Since the creation of the naval shipyard at Rochefort, the pointe Sainte-Catherine, opposite Fort Boyard on the southern part of the island, has been the home of the first fortifications on the Ile d'Aix. Drawing its inspiration from plans devised by Vauban, construction of the Fort de la Sommité began in 1699 and was completed in 1703. Accessed via a drawbridge and surrounded by moats, the fort is then flanked by five bastions, of which traces remain visible today at low spring tides. In September 1757, during the Seven Year War, the English fleet commanded by Admiral Hawke arrived in the harbour of the Ile d'Aix and completely destroyed this first fort. In 1779, Montalembert, along with his deputy Choderlos de Laclos, undertook the construction on the same site of a wooden fort, which proved temporary as it was destroyed in 1783 without ever seeing any action.

The Fort de la Rade owes its current appearance and name to work carried out in Napoleonic times. Equipped with an impressive central building designed to accommodate its artillery pieces, the fort has long ramparts that allow a full tour of the fort whilst providing an unobstructed view over the islands of Madame, Oléron and Ré, the two lighthouses on the Ile d'Aix and the famous Fort Boyard. Various refurbishment work was carried out during the second half of the 19th century, including the concrete shelters dating from 1890.
Since 1986 tourist facilities have been set up in the Fort de la Rade, which is open all year round and free to visit.
Le fort de la Rade Mairie de l'île d'Aix Rue Gourgaud 17123 Ile d'Aix Tel. + 33 (0)5 46 84 66 09 Fax + 33 (0)5 46 84 65 79 E-mail:mairie@iledaix.fr

In 1808, during an inspection of the site works at Fort Boyard, Napoleon decided to complete the defensive system of Rochefort harbour by having a fort built on the highest point at Aix, at the eastern end of the island. Square in shape, this bastioned fort measuring over 90 metres wide was built in stone and was fully casemated. Four galleries lead off in different directions from the interior courtyard, serving the casemates located beneath the bastions, with each curtain wall containing four vaulted casemates for accommodating the troops. Protected by a thick earth embankment and covered with a grass slope, the fort was surmounted by an impressive circular walkway.

Square in shape, this bastioned fort measuring over 90 metres wide was built in stone and was fully casemated. Four galleries lead off in different directions from the interior courtyard serving the casemates located beneath the bastions, with each curtain wall containing four vaulted casemates for accommodating the troops. Protected by a thick earth embankment and covered with a grass slope, the fort was surmounted by an impressive circular walkway. Between the 12th and 15th of July 1815, Napoleon spent his last days on French soil at Fort Liédot, before giving himself up to the British and leaving for Saint Helena. During the Crimean War led by Napoleon III, about a thousand defeated Russian soldiers were detained inside the fort, which was later abandoned, as the use of rifled artillery considerably reduced the resistance capacity of stone fortifications. That is why firing tests were carried out on Fort Liédot from 1863: although the casemates were able to withstand it, all the walls exposed to artillery volleys were destroyed. Despite this partial destruction, the fort's role as a prison was not weakened and several hundred communards were imprisoned within its walls from 1871 to 1872 as they awaited their departure for New Caledonia.
It was used as a detention centre for German prisoners during the First World War, before fulfilling a completely different role between the wars, when it was temporarily turned into a pleasant holiday resort for summer camps. Between 1959 and 1961, Fort Liédot held its last prisoners to date: the man who was to become President of Algeria, Ahmed Ben Bella, and several of his comrades of the FLN. In 1989, the Ministry of Defence donated Fort Liédot to the coastal conservatory, with the fort now being managed by the island of Aix local authority. There are guided tours in July and August and by appointment from September to June. The fort was restored at the end of the 19th Century, most notably for the installation of guns from the naval infantry on its terraces.
Fort Liédot Mairie of l'île d'Aix Rue Gourgaud 17123 Ile d'Aix Tel. +33 (0) 5 46 84 66 09 Fax + 33 (0) 5 46 84 65 79 E-mail:mairie@iledaix.fr

The Fort of Guentrange is located 4 km north-west of Thionville, at the top of a wooded hill overlooking the city and the left bank of the Moselle at a height of 318 m.

The Feste (or fortified group) of Guentrange was part of the Moselle fortification programme drawn up under the Schliffen-Moltke plan, between the Luxembourg border and the strategic fortifications built around Metz. It was designed to protect the rail hub at Thionville, a crucial troop transit point between Germany and France. Festen are a group of units dispersed over a large area and connected by underground galleries. Unlike the compact fort surrounded by a polygonal ditch typical of the works inspired by Séré de Rivières, a Feste often covers several dozen hectares. The whole is defended by a large garrison, armoured artillery and a network of barbed wire and defensive grating protected by trenches surrounding the work.


Construction on the Feste Obergentringen (the fortified group of Guentrange) began in 1899 and was first completed in 1905. The fortified group then included three barracks and two armoured batteries each equipped with four rotating turrets with the Schuman system, armed with short 150-mm cannons with a range of 9,700 m. Reinforced with gratings, armoured doors, mine systems and underground galleries connecting the different concrete units, while a blockhaus in the rear controlled access to the Feste with a network of barbed wire. Starting in 1912, major consolidation work was undertaken on the slopes due to land sliding down the west glacis, then a line of flanking casemates were added to reinforce protection against attackers.


The Feste Obergentringen did not come under fire during the First World War, and it became French after the Armistice of 1918. In the 1930s, France integrated it into the Maginot Line as a second-line logistic support unit in the fortified sector of Thionville. At this time, the short 105-mm cannons were replaced with long cannons, increasing the artillery’s range to 12,700 m. In 1940, the fort was used as a munitions depot for the German army before it was taken back by the Americans in 1944.


Nowadays, several levels of the work and the central barracks are accessible. Along with an exhibition presenting the history of the fortified group, visitors can see the north battery’s fully restored artillery turret. They can also observe how the site was supplied by huge water reserves, machinery equipped with a diesel engine providing electricity to the entire group, and a complete central heating and ventilation system. The barrack rooms, kitchens and bakery, the infirmary and the operating theatre: the different spaces and equipment highlight the extraordinary comfort that the fort provided its troops with.

Like the French soldiers who took over the site in 1918, visitors will appreciate the luxury of this unit, unimaginable in France’s fortifications at the end of the 19th century.

Fort of Guentrange

Thionville Tourism Office

16 rue du Vieux Collège 57100 Thionville

Tél. 03.82.53.33.18

Fax 03.82.53.15.55

e-mail : tourisme@thionville.net

Access to the Fort of Guentrange:
24 km from the Ouvrage Hackenberg via Buding on the D 60 highway, then Stuckange on the D 918, then take the A 31 motorway toward Thionville (exit No. 40 "Linkling, zones commerciales et artisanales, hôpital Bel-Air, Cattenom"), then the D 14.
30 km from Metz on the A 31 motorway (exit No. 40 " Linkling, zones commerciales et artisanales, hôpital Bel-Air, Cattenom ), then the D 14 highway. 85 km from Nancy via Metz.
30 km from Luxembourg on the E 25 (exit No. 43 "Longwy, Algrange, Nilvange" ), then take the D 14.

Visits: the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month starting at 3.00 pm. Group visits by appointment.

Quiz : Forts and citadels

At the end of the Second World War, the radar was in its infancy; however, some models were capable of detecting movements at sea, day and night, at a distance beyond the reach of the human eye.

The occupying forces and the allies stepped up their research into and installation of these “wizard’s ears”.

In Douvres, due to its altitude, a long-range radar was installed in late 1942 as a means to notify the military staff of any attempt to land in the region. 

However, as happens each time a weapon of war is invented… a means to neutralise it quickly follows suit. The countermeasure of fog and false echoes were extremely popular during the night of the 5^th of June 1944!

The Radar Museum

The radar station remained an entrenched camp until 17 June (10 days after the liberation of Douvres itself).

Today attached to the Memorial of Caen, the radar station is the only one of its kind on the coast.

Two remarkably preserved bunkers and original displays help visitors to understand the role of radars and their technical development.

A couple of miles from the Juno landing beaches, the German radar station in Douvres, along the Route de Basly, served as an entrenched camp for several days. An advanced surgical unit was set up near a convent in La Délivrande. 

The first bodies buried here were soldiers killed on 6 June 1944.

Later, the bodies of soldiers killed between the coast and Caen were buried here.

The British cemetery

At the entrance to the town, on the road from Caen, the entrance to the cemetery is immediately identifiable.

A square pavilion with a peaked roof covered in stone is surrounded by pergolas. In line with the porch, the Cross of Sacrifice stands at the far end of the central walkway. It is erected on a small grassy mound and surrounded by low walls.

The steles are symmetrically placed either side of the central walkway bordered by trimmed yew trees. The German plot with the various stone stele and two-sloped roof stands in the right section of the site. Curiously, the grave of the only Polish soldier is set apart.

Big lime trees and magnolias mainly planted around the edges of the site separate the cemetery from neighbouring houses. The cemetery is enclosed by trimmed hedges of hornbeams or beeches.

Musée Franco-Allemand « Station Radar 44 » Route de Bény – CD83 – 14440 Douvres-la-Délivrande

Tél. : 07.57.48.77.32

Site internet : www.musee-radar.fr - Courriel : contact@musee-radar.fr

Choisissez votre mode de visite :

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 Musée du Radar - Douvres-la-Délivrande. Michel.dehaye@avuedoiseau.com

Situated on the southern bank of the entrance to the Old Port of Marseille, this fort is in the form of a system with a double compound, moats and bastions.

In 1660, Marseille was placed under royal power following an attack by an army of 7,000 men commanded by the Duke of Mercoeur. Louis 14th decided to build Fort St-Nicolas both to protect the harbour at Marseille and to control a town that had been hostile to him for a long time. Work was carried out following the "star-shaped" plans of the Marshall of Camps and General Commissioner of Fortifications, Louis Nicolas de Clerville, and was completed in 1664. Vauban only altered the work of his predecessor slightly: he had some low batteries and the false bray added, which we can still see today around the lower fort. Throughout the 17th Century, the citadel housed a garrison. On the 18th May 1790, it was partially destroyed by a crowd of revolutionaries who attacked the part of the compound that faced the town. In an act dated the 28th May the National Assembly, anxious to preserve a fortification that would be useful for defending the country, ordered an end to its demolition.
On the 4th January 1794, Bonaparte, then Inspector of the Mediterranean coast, wrote to the minister for war: "Fort St-Nicolas is not capable of defending. The three structures that enclosed the town on the fort side have been demolished, making it accessible from all sides. However, it is essential to restore it so that it can at least defend against any ill wishers. In order to do this we need to rebuild one of the three keeps. I am going to install canons along the fort in order to control the town". This letter earned the would-be emperor a summons from the Assembly, as the people's representatives appealed against the danger of a "Marseille Bastille". The citadel was not restored until 1834, using dull grey stones, which stand out against the pinkish tones of those used originally. On the order of Napoleon the Third, work on the roads split the citadel into two distinct forts and opened up the boulevard to traffic: christened Boulevard de l'Empereur in 1864, it became Boulevard Victor Hugo in 1870, Boulevard du Pharo in 1871 and then Boulevard Charles Livon in 1922. In 1887, the military authorities renamed the upper Fort St-Nicolas, which became Fort Entrecasteaux, from the name of a French navigator. The lower Fort St-Nicolas took the name Fort Ganteaume, in tribute to a former Vice Admiral and maritime prefect of Toulon. On the 14th January 1969, the whole fort was classified as a historic monument.
In 1696, five protestants accused of spying on behalf of William of Orange were imprisoned at Fort St-Nicolas. In 1823, following the Spanish expedition, the fort took in 569 prisoners. Afterwards, the citadel served as a place to hold soldiers given short sentences by military tribunals. In 1939, it was host to two famous people: Jean Giono, who wrote in his novel "Noé" about the cell where he was held in solitary confinement for twenty days without light and Habib Bourguiba, who would become president of the Tunisian Republic.
Fort Saint-Nicolas Impasse Clerville 13007 Marseille Access It is possible to access one of the fort's terraces by car, which provides a superb view over the Old Port. The only guided tours available are organised by the Tourist Information Office. Links Marseille Tourist Information Office Tel. + 33 (0) 4.91.13.89.00 Fax + 33 (0) 4.91.13.89.20 e-mail: info@marseille-tourisme.com