The château de Vincennes is an exceptional historic site: initially it served as a Capetian manor before becoming a royal residence from the 12th to 17th centuries and then being used as a State prison in the 18th century; during the 19th and 20th centuries it was transformed into a major military establishment. Its geographical location is no a coincidence: the King demanded that it be located within close proximity to the French capital, so that he and the government could be protected and maintained in times of trouble.

Here is the plan of the château de Vincennes, Click on the arrows for more information...
Today, this site represents a rare collection of monuments: the dungeon of Charles V, the Sainte-Chapelle and the King's and Queen's pavilions are proof of the castle's important role in French history. The castle is owned by the State, specifically the ministries of defence and culture. It has suffered from the passing of time and from human destruction. In 1986, the State realised the importance of restoring the site and the leadership of a study was entrusted to Jean-Philippe Lecat, a former culture minister, who would publish its findings in 1988 in a report entitled 'Vincennes, memory and creation'.
This analysis set in train a vast restoration campaign which continues today. An interministerial defence/culutre commission (CICV) was also created to coordinate restoration and to ensure that the monument is promoted appropriately along with various other partners (defence, culture - in charge of managing the project), the town of Vincennes and the city of Paris, and with different services (Bâtiments de France, Monum, etc.). Since 1988, more than ?40m has been invested in the castle by the two ministries, the main areas being the Sainte-Chapelle, the dungeon and surrounding wall. When work began these structures revealed an unexpected technical complexity both in terms of restoration and archeological excavations. The work also revealed the intellectual bases underlying the construction of the monument.
This project has been carried out in an exemplary fashion thanks to the effective long-term cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and its various departments (Management of National Heritage, National Works Department) and the Ministry of Defence which has continually provided the means required. A CNRS research team (ERCUBE) brings together researchers and professionals. This makes it one of Europe's most important restoration projects and one that is clearly of significant cultural and tourist value.
This building has been entrusted to the Ministry of Defence. France's Defence and Culture ministries signed an agreement to restore it, on 17 September 2005.
Château de Vincennes Main entrance Avenue de Paris 94300 Vincennes Tel/Fax: 33 / (0)1 48 08 31 20 ou Fax: 33 / (0)1 58 64 23 95 Open: From 1 September to 30 April From 10:00-12:00 and from 13:15-17:00 From 2 May to 31 August From 10:00-12:00 and from 13:15-18:00 Please note! The castle is closed on 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November, and 25 December. Getting there By road: By the East ringroad: exit 'Porte de Vincennes' (Route Nationale N34: avenue de Paris), or Porte Dorée From south of Val-de-Marne: motorway A86, take the East ringroad at the level of 'Porte de Bercy'. Free parking (near the Saint Louis Esplanade) From Orly airport: By car, motorway A6 and East ringroad From Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport: By car, motorway A1 and East ringroad By underground and RER: Line no. 1: station 'Château de Vincennes' or RER A station 'Vincennes' By bus: Château de Vincennes Bus Station: Line 46 Saint-Mandé Demi-lune --> Gare du Nord. Departures for Château de Vincennes from Monday to Friday in the afternoon during the summer, every Wednesday afternoon from 1 May to 30 September, every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday afternoon throughout the year. Line 56 --> Porte de Clignancourt Line 112 --> Joinville / La Varenne-Chennevières Line 114 --> Villemomble / Le Raincy Line 115 --> Porte des Lilas Line 118 --> Rosny-sous-Bois Line 124 --> Val de Fontenay Line 210 --> Villiers-sur-Marne Line 318 --> Romainville-les-Chantaloups Line 325 --> Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand

Fort de Leveau is part of a fortification system dating back to 1874. It is just one of the structures erected around Maubeuge to protect it.

It is a "cavalier and high battery" structure, surrounded with masonry ditches with a scarp and counterscarp. These were defended with two caponiers (covered passages), with the entrance and the gorge protected with two flanking casemates.

Before World War 1 began, a concrete gun turret for two 75mm guns was added. The fort was bombarded and evacuated on 7 September 1914. According to sources, between 80 and 120 people lost their lives and the building was seriously damaged.

It was refurbished in the 1930s and observation posts were constructed. The fort fell on 19 May 1940. During the Liberation, it was the backdrop of combats between the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and German troops.

Today, the fort belongs to the town of Feignies and is preserved as a place for reflection and strolling, steeped in history. Since 1993, the Association de Sauvegarde du Fort de Leveau has been looking after the site.

The main living quarters and defences of the fort can be visited: barracks, caponiers, concrete structure, central tunnel, trenches. Inside, a museum is dedicated to the two world wars. All objects and documents concerning the fort or Maubeuge are displayed in the gunpowder room, while the artillery store and the central corridor display uniforms, documents and apparatus from the Great War. Visitors can also discover a room decorated with furniture of the time. Lastly, the museum has a room dedicated to the Second World War.

Exhumations were carried out at the request of families of soldiers who died on 7 September 1914. In 1998, after two years of painstaking work, the bodies of nine buried soldiers were exhumed. They were able to be identified thanks to their identification tags and thus emerged from an 84-year oblivion. Nearly all of the families were found and invited to the funerals of their grandfather or great-grandfather. A moving ceremony took place at the fort and a commemorative plaque was unveiled, followed by another ceremony at the Assevent cemetery to bury the bodies.

Fort de Leveau

Association de sauvegarde du fort de Leveau

BP 68 59750 Feignies

Tel./Fax: +33 (0)3 27 62 37 07

Quizz : Forts and citadels

The building, built between 1883 and 1890, sits on a rocky outcropping overlooking the confluence of the Tinée and the Var, north of Nice.

The treaty of 1860 brought Nice and Savoy under French control and forced the French army to redefine its plans for defending the southeast border with Italy. The young Italian State, unified by the Piedmont royal family, sought to make its mark by controlling its territory with fortifications on the Col de Tende and through a trade and customs war. A policy of systematic opposition to France led Italy to join the Triple Alliance in 1882.

Séré de Rivières, in charge of establishing a line of defence along the northeast border, expanded his system to the Italian border, as he was well aware of the threat: “Since, through a series of annexations made possible by French policy, the King of Piedmont has become the King of all of Italy and rather than having neighbours who are incapable of causing us any umbrage, we are in contact with a first-class power, the Alpine border has taken on great importance.”

The first step consisted in controlling all the approaches to Nice, transforming the city into a resistance position. Nice played the role of the core surrounded by a line of defence made up of forts set up on natural outcroppings, within shooting distance of each other. It quickly became necessary to push the line of defence closer to the border.

A second fortified line was set up, rounding out the system of strategic roads started in 1877. It should be pointed out that his predecessor, Engineering General Frossard, had already planned in 1862 to defend Nice and to control the gorges of the Var and the Tinée with a system of two “chuise” and four forts.

The “explosive shell crisis” made the “first generation” of the Séré de Rivières forts partially useless.

The Fort du Pic Charvet, or Picciarvet, is a typical construction in the system. It is part of a vast defensive system comprising 158 forts and 254 artillery batteries in charge of safeguarding the border.

The Fort du Pic Charvet is a protective fort. The building is surrounded by a ditch that protects the west side, which is more vulnerable. It is defended by caponiers. No large façades are visible. Only a few walls and a cannon ramp can be seen. The heavy machinery includes four 120-mm cannons, heavy weapons to ensure the fort’s role.

With the law of 22 December 1889, General Baron Berge created the “Alpine batteries” each of which was to be paired off with the Chasseurs Alpins battalion at the nearest fort. These batteries are equipped with the 80-mm De Bange cannon, called the “mountain gun”, a rifled cannon that could be broken down into three loads of approximately one hundred kilos which can be transported by mules using a packsaddle: the carriage, the pointer extension with the wheels. This cannon has a range of 4,100 metres. The 65-mm mountain gun replaced it in the end. This is a fast-firing gun with an articulated carriage. It weighs 400 kilos. It is made up of four loads for mule transport: the gun, the brake, the pointer, and the wheels. Its maximum range is 5,500 metres and its firing speed can reach 10 to 15 shots a minute. The fort was occupied until World War II by the 18^th battalion of Chasseurs Alpins.

Syndicat d'initiative de Villars sur Var

Tel.: +33 (0)4.93.05.32.32

Tournefort Town Hall

Tel.: +33 (0)4.93.02.90.56

Access: on foot, take the path from the village of Tournefort

Association Montagne et Traditions

The fort has several notable features, the most impressive of which is the covered interior road, bordered on either side by the facades of the barracks and a room which is completely reinforced.

At 497m, the top of the fort offers superb views of the Pays de Montbéliard (orientation table).

A fortification must meet a defensive need and make use of the human resources and materials available, and is bound by geographic and strategic constraints. Using the example of Mont-Bart Fort, we will analyse these points for the fortifications constructed after the Franco-Prussian war.

At the end of the 19th century, France's army was inferior in terms of numerical strength to that of its powerful neighbour.

France therefore adopted a defensive system designed by General Séré de Rivière to guard against another invasion.

Fortifications were constructed to compensate for inferior human resources.

Given the loss of a part of Alsace and Moselle, the defensive system had to be redesigned in the Vosges rather than being based along the Rhine. The major subjects under consideration were controlling channels of communications and preventing supplies from reaching the enemy army. The answer found was a network of forts which all protected each other. This curtain of forts was supported by fortified camps, which acted as stoppers to block the major roads, as at Belfort.

Experiences in 1870 had taught Séré de Rivière the importance of keeping the enemy at a distance. It was essential to build numerous forts, some of which would only be occupied in the event of a conflict. The network needed to be dense for the system to be effective.

Mont-Bart Fort lies at the southern extremity of the Belfort fortified camp, behind the confluence of the Allan and the Doubs. It overlooks Pays de Montbéliard, with the exception of the Ecot plateau.

Its defence was linked to Mont-Vaudois, Lachaux and Le Lomont forts, and the Roches battery. The gateway to Alsace was closed off by the forts. The roads, railways and waterways were controlled by the forts.

Should an army succeed in sneaking between the forts, it would rapidly be blocked because supplies would not be able to get through. Forts were constructed to resist the weapons which existed at the time.

However, weapons developed very quickly between the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Forts were modernised to keep up with these developments until the First World War.

Mont-Bart Fort
Rue du Mont-Bart - 25420 Bart

Tel: +33 (0)3 81 97 51 71 - Fax: +33 (0)3 81 96 23 85

Email: fort.mont-bart@wanadoo.fr

(Guided visits by appointment)

This limestone pre-alp range reaches heights of 600 to 800 metres. Its north-south orientation makes it a natural obstacle to invasions from the west and a travel route between Nice and the Vésubie Valley. These dry-stone fortifications were set up by French troops who invaded the County of Nice in 1747. It runs from Mont Férion to the sea, passing through Mont Macaron and the Terrier Plateau. The system includes a double line used as a shooting bench, equipped with redoubts. The most interesting vestiges are located on the Terrier plateau.

Trom the D 19

Montagne et Traditions Association

Quizz : Forts and citadelles

The Chuise de Bauma Negra belongs to the system for controlling the gorges that lead to Nice within Séré de Rivières' system. The fortification was constructed between 1884 and 1887 to block the way to Nice from la Tinée. The Chuise is situated at the narrowest point of the valley, in the Mescla gorges, just before the confluence with the Var. Its design is identical to that of the Chuise de Saint-Jean-de-la-rivière. It is a fort built into a dam.

The limestone valley of La Roya is a communications route that has been controlled in turn by the Sardinians, the Spanish, the Austrians and the French. The southern part was incorporated into France in 1860 during the reintegration of the county of Nice. Control of this border region allowed the regulation of Italian activity. In this respect, the fort provided support for the Fort du Pic Charvet. It is built on the right bank of the gorge, on the edge of the road. It combines concrete parts with a two-storey façade in stone cut into the cliff. The structure comprises two equipped floors next to the road. It has openings for 40 and 120 mm canons. Underground galleries lead to the gun shelters and firing posts that in turn lead on to the main road. Two rolling bridges, which could be moved from inside the fort, allowed the road to be cut off. It could house between 30 and 60 men. There was no separation between the stores and billets. On the left bank of the gorge, the engineer had planned to install mortars to catch the enemy in crossfire. The fort is not open to the public.
Belvédère Tourist information office: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 41 23 Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 21 28

The Chuise de Saint-Jean-la-Rivière is part of the system controlling the gorges that lead to Nice in the Seré de Rivières system. A combination of stone and concrete, this Chuise is a cave-fort dug out of the cliff. It is a small building cut out of the cliff in the Gorges de la Vésubie between Saint-Jean-la-Rivière and Le Suquet. Like the Chuise de Bauma Negra, it is part of the system controlling the gorges in the Nice hinterlands. These are barrier forts.

The Valley of the Vésubie, called the Switzerland of Nice, is the shortest (48 km) valley in the Nice hinterlands. The lower valley, starting at Saint-Jean-la-Rivière, makes its way through the gorges of the Alpine foothills before joining the left bank of the Var River through the Défilé de Chaudan. The Ligures used this passage and it was a busy route in the Middle Ages, as it is one of the main salt roads leading to Piedmont via the Col de Fenestre. In the 16^th century the Valley of La Roya became the preferred route. Two hundred years later, the region opposed the English, Sardinians and Austrians during the War of the Austrian Succession. During the French Revolution, the region gave shelter to those who refused military service, the “barbets”, who carried out guerrilla actions against the regular troops.

In 1860, the County of Nice and Savoy became part of France, bringing the Italian threat closer just after France had been defeated by the Prussians and Italy had been unified by the King of Piedmont. The failure of the system of defences, which was unable to protect cities from enemy fire, led Seré de Rivières to develop a new system based on the principle of forward defence lines protecting a central core. Fortifications were set up near the border, making use of natural obstacles to monitor, control and block the passages, with their layout determined by area covered by each one’s fire.

The building comprises two floors on the side of the road. It is equipped with 40 and 80-mm cannon openings. The underground galleries lead to shelters and firing positions that cover the length of the national highway. Two movable bridges that can be manoeuvred from inside the fort were used to cut off the road. It can house 30 to 60 men.

The fort cannot be visited.

Syndicat d'initiative de Belvédère: +33 (0)4.93.03.41.23

Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourism Office: +33 (0)4.93.21.28

Fortweb website on European fortifications

Constructed between 1887 and 1890, it operated in conjunction with the fort des Mille Fourches, which is a copy of it. The Redoubt of les Trois Communes, built later, protects them both. Its construction was brought about as a result of the Treaty of Turin of 1860. The Savoie and Nice had become part of France once more. The Valley of the Roya, a communications route running north to south in the heart of the Alpine mountain range, was shared between France and Italy. Sealing off the new border had thus become a strategic matter of utmost importance. This small fort was in response to the increase in power of the house of Piedmont, which was gradually uniting Italy under its strict control with Italy's entry into the Triple Alliance and its policy of fortifying the Tende mountain pass.

Le fort de la Forca belongs to the first generation of the Séré de Rivières system. A belt of forts, built upon natural obstacles at a distance of a few kilometres, provided a range of artillery cover to protect a town (or central nucleus) from 6 kilometres to the rear from enemy bombardment. La Forca is a small fort with a façade with very few openings. It is surrounded by a moat and flanked by concrete caponniers. The internal courtyard was replaced by a vaulted chamber. The redoubt of les Trois Communes, built later, protected them. It reflected the rise in tensions between France and Italy and technological developments in particular, such as the "torpedo shell crisis", which rendered some of the Séré de Rivières system obsolete. New projectiles came in the form of cylindrical warheads, which exploded in the open air, with steel replacing cast iron; the new mixes of explosives were more powerful and no longer created smoke; canons (Bange 155 mm and 220 mm) could fire further. Armour plating and surface stonework could therefore be pierced and obstacles on the ground (moats and parapets, caponniers etc.) shattered.
Belvédère Tourist Information office: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 41 23 Saint-Martin de la Vésubie Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 03 21 28 Access The D 2566 via the Turini pass, towards the resort of Camp d'argent and then Authion. Car park in les Trois Communes On foot from les Trois Communes car park

Ever since the 16th century, the glacial rock bar that blocks the Le Guil valley has been the site of a castle designed to provide cover for the side of Le Queyras that faces downriver. It would appear that the first castle constructed there dates back to the 11th century. Its role was to protect the valley from looters arriving from Provence.

Positioned at an altitude of 1,400 m, the construction looks over the Le Guil valley. Château-Queyras served as an outpost designed to stall the enemy and give the towns of Montdauphin and Briançon the time required to prepare their defences.
In 1692 the fort resisted an attack from the people of the Savoie, at which time Vauban decided to reinforce it. He recommended an enlargement and modernisation programme. He created an advanced redoubt on the northern side and also planned an extension to the fort in the western part. In 1700, he planned the construction of a new compound on the eastern side and the work was carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries.
He ordered the destruction of some of the buildings considered to be out of keeping with his plans as the narrowness of the premises prevented the accommodation of an expanded garrison to control the region. This monument combines the 14th century towers and square dungeon with a Vauban-style structure: a bastioned envelope, parapets with slits for firing and demi-lune entrance. The curtain has retained its watch turrets. Batteries were constructed downriver in the 18th century.
Mairie 05250 Château-Ville-Vieille Tel: + 33 (0) 4 92 46 86 89 Fax: + 33 (0) 4 92 46 82 00

This small fort was constructed rather belatedly in 1898, to complete Seré de Rivières' "second generation" system. It controlled access to the Col des Banquettes between the Fort du Mont-Agel and the Fort du Barbonnet. It served as their lookout post. Its construction came about during a period of intense Franco-Italian confrontation, marked by Italy's entry into the Triple Alliance in 1882 and the tariff war of 1888-1898.

The small Fort du Mont-Ours belongs to a group of covering fortifications. The defensive organisation in effect consisted of a "holding" or "damning" fortification designed to save on armed forces: it was more powerful and also staggered across the terrain, with two sub-groups of covering fortifications. The first type consisted of blockhouses, high altitude army camps and batteries that could be manned quickly and hold out until reinforcements arrived, whilst the second comprised of blockhouses positioned on the main access routes and provided the link between the forts of the first group.
The construction of this relay building was as a result of a development in military tools. The first factor was technical and saw the improvement in armaments and the manufacture of a more powerful shell with a delayed detonation known as the "torpedo shell", which rendered obsolete Seré de Rivières' heavy defensive system (moats, open air structures etc.). The second was related to the dissolution, in 1888, of the Defence Committee established by Adolphe Thiers. This was succeeded by the Upper War Council, which was more politically involved and decided to limit the allotted funding. Most of the forts on the south east of the line thus remained built in stone, with concrete being used as a priority on the structures on the northern part of the line, which were geographically and militarily more exposed, especially in 1902 when France signed an agreement to neutralise potential Italian aggression. The military leaders preferred to increase the number of relay stations, high altitude stores and forces along the border. That is why the Army of the Alps was set up from 1887 onwards. It would gradually come to permanently occupy the military sites.
The fort consists of a single main building with two floors, with a surrounding wall that overhangs its immediate edges. Below there is a collection of walls sloping beneath a platform designed to support light artillery. A track leads to one of the blockhouses of the Maginot line. The site is currently occupied by the fire service.
The period between the wars was only to strengthen these strategic positions in the face of Mussolini's irredentism. In 1925, General Degoutte, the appointed commander of the Army of the Alps, drew the Upper War Council's attention to this threat. A Committee for the Defence of the Borders was formed. It was presided over by General Guillaumat. The first works on the southeastern Maginot line of the "redoubt programme for the defence of Nice" were started in 1927 under the impetus of General Degoutte. In 1930, funding for the construction of the Maginot line was approved and the execution of the work was assigned to the Committee for Organising the Fortified Regions (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées or CORF).
The Committee for the Defence of the Borders suggested 75 forts of several types: "Sturdy" well armed and well equipped structures; intermediary forts of the main line of defence, whose armaments complement the former; artillery forts and, behind the line, "shelters" (3 types) where troops would be accommodated between battles. In April 1934, fortress troops, battalions of detached alpine fortress infantry regiments and alpine fortress battalions were set up. These troops were complemented by artillery and specialist units.
In 1937, in order to contain the Italian threat, the Caval plan hastened the reinforcement of the most exposed zones. In 1939, France could rely on an (incomplete) system of two lines of defence, consisting of 36 casemates in the southeast. The second fort at Mont-Ours is a result of this initiative. Like all the large forts in the area, the blockhouse was equipped with 81 mm and 75 mm mortars. Priority was given to underground transmissions, both radio and optical. Supplies and munitions arrived in small trucks.
Useful information Sospel Tourist centre: + 33 (0) 4 93 04 15 80 / + 33 (0) 6 85 96 72 88 Edelweiss Association Access By car via the col de Segra and the col des Banquettes Pedestrian access to the platform from the col du Castillon