Richelieu, the founder of the Port du Ponant, launched the first work to fortify the town, which was then continued by Vauban under Louis XIV. It was during the reign of Louis XVI, during the American War of Independence (1775-1783), that the king, fearing that the English would land in Brittany, decided to construct forts and redoubts.

Constructed in various ways depending on the geography of the area to be defended, they all however possessed the means to cross their fire and respond to the intermediate batteries built on the first sign of war. These fortifications, evidence of the history of Brest and the surrounding area, were in their time considered to be state of the art French fortifications on the eve of the revolution. The Fort du Questel is in reality a "redoubt", in other words, a fortified, square-shaped construction, whose entrance or gorge is located on the least exposed side. This enormous quadrilateral with 100 metre long sides is situated between the Fort du Kéranroux (1.5 km t the right) and the Fort de Penfeld (1 km to the left).
Le Fort du Questel watches over the junction of the valleys of le Moulin du Buis, where the enemy could set up camp in order to bombard Brest. Surrounded by deep moats and accessible by a drawbridge, it consists of a stone wall (escarpe), with a walkway around the top for use by the musketeers. This walkway is itself surmounted by a rampart made of earth, which is set back and designed to support the artillery (26 canons in total, with a range of up to 4.5 km). The garrison of around 200 men there had access to various galleries, including two large underground ones linking the central courtyard with the walkways. We should also note the presence of rest areas which, during Vauban's time, was still a privilege ...
Constructed on a 6 hectare site Fort du Questel overlooks the Valley of the Allégoet, a tributary stream of the river Penfeld. Today, this site is one of a series of redeveloped natural areas leading up to the banks of the Penfeld along a circuit that passes by the foot of the Cavale Blanche hospital. On its premises, the fortress provides scenic walks through its well-sheltered ditches, basements, staircases, scarp and counterscarps, esplanade and its nearby cool undergrowth. The Fort du Questel has also become a popular place for hosting many activities.

Since it was founded in 1679, Mont-Louis has experienced an extraordinary military past. In addition to the political decisions made by King Louis XIV, the enlightened plans drawn up by the well-known French architect Vauban and the very active and rigorous surveillance of the Secretary of State for War Louvois, the place has been the home and domain of soldiers!

Following the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 and on the behest of King Louis XIV who wished to secure this region only recently reclaimed by Spain, Vauban, General Commissioner of Fortifications, designed this stronghold from the ground up in 1679. The special strategic location, at the crossroads of the comarques of Conflent, Capcir and Cerdanya, determined the final choice of the site. Moreover, this position gave easy access to materials, pastures, mills, wood and fields.

Mont-Louis was planned over two terraces: the citadel and the town.

The original plans included a lower town for the sutlers, stables and feedstores as well as a redoubt but they were never built for lack of funds.

As concerns the military citadel, the view from which stretched from the Canigou to the Serra del Cadi, the defences were based on typical Vauban features: bastions, battered curtain walls and demi-lunes. While the chapel, the arsenal and two powder stores were completed, the governor's house, chaplain’s quarters and the hall to provide shelter for the soldiers never got off the ground.

Adhering to simple principles, Vauban then set about organising the interior layout of the new town to house a small middle class of craftsmen with infantry barracks either side of the sole entryway into the citadel. It met military requirements and was also a practical place to live and work with a simple and well-ordered layout where the command, combat and civilian activities were harmoniously integrated.

During this period of temporary peace, the soldiers provided most of the labour, in particular the Vierzet-Famechon, Stoppa Brendelé, Furstemberg and Castries regiments. There were many soldiers living around Mont-Louis - 3,700 were present when Louvois visited the site in 1680, all paid a poor daily wage for such harsh labour in tough conditions, not least the severe climate in Mont-Louis. They were supervised by specialised craftsmen (masons, stonecutters, carpenters, joiners, blacksmiths, well-diggers and the like) and overseen by quartermasters and engineers working for the King. Any prestige from wearing the uniform was sacrificed to the meanliness of their task.

In 1681, some 29 months after Vauban’s visit, most of the work was completed and the fortress was considered to be in a state of defence. On 26 October, the first governor, François de Fortia, Marquess of Durban, took possession of the place during a sumptuous celebration amid “loud cries of 'Long live the King!’ by the people of Cerdagne who came in droves and were delighted to witness such a ceremony”. Henceforth, Mont-Louis marked the final military southern border and was well positioned to keep close watch over the stronghold of Puigcerdà in Spanish Cerdagne. The excellent choice of location has persisted through the centuries to today.

In 1793, the fortress was central to the military events taking place in Cerdagne. Mont-Louis was renamed Mont-Libre. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation in France, the King of Spain used the French regicide as an excuse to send in his troops to invade the entire region of the Pyrénées-Orientales. In Cerdagne, General Dagobert pushed back the Spanish army twice. In July 1793, the Spanish troops occupying the Col de la Perche passage were routed out and in September those camped above Canaveilles were resoundingly defeated. General Dagobert continued his efforts and invaded Spanish Cerdagne and Puigcerdà, where he died in 1794 (Monuent Dagobert stands on Place de l’Eglise).

Peace returned on 1 August 1795 and Mont-Libre was essentially used as a storehouse by the army stationed in Cerdagne. Monte-Libre reverted back to its name of Mont-Louis on 24 October 1803. In 1808, Mont-Louis became a huge transit camp and a hospital for the Spanish army. With the Restoration, Mont-Louis’s defensive importance was more related to its topography than to the fortress itself. The work resumed with intensity in 1887 to improve the Mont-Louis’ defences in particular its immediate surroundings.

The World Wars saw floods of emigrants crammed within the fortress, during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 before the German Occupation and the liberation of the site by the Free French Forces. In 1946 the fortress reclaimed its original function as a military stronghold when the 11th BPC parachute regiment were stationed there and then in 1964 the site became the National Commando Training Centre.

This centre dedicated to French expertise in commando training instructed military personnel (officers, NCOs and other ranks) from the land and air forces, the national gendarmerie and foreign armies, but was also a training centre with special programmes for war correspondents, STAPS students (physical education) and personnel from the justice and interior ministries.

But the fortress did retain one unique architectural feature: the Puits des Forçats (Convicts’ Well), with its enormous wheel that supplied water to the site (open all year round to visitors). The town walls also harbour the first solar furnace with double reflection built in 1949 (also open to visitors through the year). Its church, dedicated to St Louis, was started in 1733 based on the model of the chapel in the citadel. Inside there is a series of Roussillon baroque altarpieces dating from the 17^th and 18^th centuries with a very fine statue of Christ made of polychrome wood (17^th century) in the Rhenish style.

Mont-Louis Tourist Information Office

3 rue Lieutenant Pruneta 66210 Mont-Louis, France

Tel/fax: +33 (0)4 68 04 21 97

E-mail: otmontlouis@wanadoo.fr

Guided tours: Fortress/Puits des Forçats well: during winter, every day except Sunday from 11 am to 2 pm. Village: in winter every day except Sunday at 3.30 pm. Solar furnace: Low season: every day at 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm. Summer: every day from 10 am to 6 pm, tours every 30 minutes.

Perpignan is a border town in the Pyrénées-Orientales département of France and a place of passage.

Situated on Via Domitia – ancestor of today's No. 9 motorway –, it was the scene of invasions, rivalry between France and Catalonia, battles during the war of Spanish succession and then the Napoleonic wars, and fights against Nazism.

Owned by the Kingdom of Majorca, James II, known as "the Conqueror", settled in Perpignan in 1276 and raised the town to the status of a capital. He had his palace built there, which is the oldest royal residence in France. His son, James III, was driven out by Peter IV of Aragon. The Palace of the Kings of Majorca then became a temporary residence for the kings of Aragon. Pope Benedict XIII stayed there in 1408.

The building is a fortified palace in the Gothic style, organised around three courtyards. The entrance is protected by a moat and a crenelated barbican. Its architects were Ramon Pau and Pons Descoll. As a result of the 16th-century wars between France and Spain, Perpignan changed from being a border town to being a citadel, the border stronghold: in 1540, Charles Quint added a remote line of fortification to the citadel; Philip II of Spain had the red brick ramparts built in 1587 in a hexagonal shape.

After becoming part of the Kingdom of France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, Perpignan became a proper garrison town.

Vauban reinforced the defence system by adding fortified structures inside and outside the wall built by Philip II: six half-moons were added. He suggested building living quarters inside the citadel and, to solve the issue of expulsions caused by extending the place of arms, he suggested building a "new town" to the north, which he included in his plan of the exterior wall. The military architect incorporated it into a clever defence mechanism on the Catalonia border. He closed the lines of communication via the Collioure - Port-Vendres - Fort de Bellegarde fortifications.
 

To prevent an invasion via secondary cols (in the Tech and Cerdagne valleys), he designed Prats-de-Mollo, Fort des Bains, Mont-Louis and Villefranche-de-Conflent. The rear of the system was reinforced by Perpignan.
The Revolution and the Empire developed the military character of the city and even claimed a number of public monuments and religious rights-of-way for the troop.

Perpignan Tourist Office

Palais des Congrès - Place Armand Lanoux BP 215 66002 Perpignan Cedex

Tel: +33 (0)4.68.66.30.30

Fax: +33 (0)4.68.66.30.26

E-mail: contact-office@perpignan.fr

Palace of the Kings of Majorca

4 rue des Archers 66000 Perpignan

Tel.: +33 (0)4 68 34 48 29

Summer opening times: closes at 6pm. Winter opening times: 9am to 5pm

Closed on 01/01, 05/01, 01/11 and 25/12

Quiz: Forts and citadels

In 1697, in accordance with the Ryswick treaties, France had to give back all those towns situated on the right bank of the Rhine, including Brisach. She was thus to lose her foothold in Germany and leave the centre of the Alsace undefended. In 1698 Vauban was despatched to the town and started to build three projects, of which the third one, the most complete, was retained by Louis XIV on 6 September 1698. The highly experienced Vauban, closely following the layout already achieved in Landau, designed a town with a double defensive main front part to increase its resistance to attack and make it less vulnerable to ricochet fire, which he himself had invented.

The town, a perfect octagon, comprises an internal fortified "secure" part, whose fortified defensive walls are flanked by fortified towers and an outer "fighting" area. This is made up of two defensive levels. The first consists of counter-guards serving as an artillery platform, which conceal the fortified towers and tenailles to protect the defensive walls. The second level is made up of half-moons in front of the tenailles, of which only those above the doors have a reduit, and of a covered walkway that encircles the whole town. Within the walls, Neuf-Brisach is arranged into 48 areas around the Place d'Armes. This ias how Neuf-Brisach came to be built from scratch on the left bank of the Rhine a short distance from the old town of Brisach. Construction work, which began in 1700, was carried out quickly so that by March 1702, the town could be used as a defence.
However, the return of Brisach to French rule in 1703 was to be the death knell for Neuf-Brisach. This is why, due to lack of funds, the crowning work that featured in Vauban's plans was abandoned and the first stone of the church of Saint-Louis was not laid until 1731, while the construction of the governor's hall would not be started until 1772. Only a small amount of modernisation work was carried out in the middle of the 19th century to compensate for some defects, in particular the lack of casemates. It was also a question of adapting its defences after the construction of the canal between the Rhone and the Rhine that runs along the slope to the east, by adding a lunette covering a floodgate. After a few alarms in 1814 and 1815, it wasn't until 1870 that Neuf-Brisach was to witness its first siege: besieged from 6th October 1870, it was subjected to violent artillery fire between the 2nd and 10th November before capitulating on the 11th November.
However Neuf-Brisach's military purpose was never to be fulfilled. The Germans would significantly alter the ramparts, as well as the urban layout of the ancient fortified town, turning it into a key constituent of the Neuf-Brisach bridgehead, intended to protect an important crossing point on the Rhine using several very modern fortifications. In June 1940, the breaching of the Rhine by the Germans in the Neuf-Brisach area was to be marked by intense fighting, before the town temporarily became the largest prisoner of war camp in France. Neuf-Brisach was to be severely bombarded once more, this time by American troops at the end of the Second World War.
Tourist Office Point I Neuf-Brisach 6, place d'Armes 68600 Neuf-Brisach Tel. 03 89 72 56 66 Fax: 03 89 72 91 73 E-mail: info@tourisme-rhin.com

Bastion No. 6, known as "Bastion Saint-Jean", is situated in the commune of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the North of France, in the region called Nord-Pas-de-Calais. This fortified city clinging to the side of a rocky cliff was founded by Wédric Le Barbu in the 11th century. Philippa de Hainaut, future queen of England who persuaded King Edward to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais, was born into the family of Avesnes.

The edifice was established on the south-eastern boundary of the town, against a rocky outcrop, opposite the high grounds of Malassise and Guersignies to the south; it dominates the Helpe valley. The first elements of the motte-and-bailey castle were built in the 11th century; two ramparts circled the town in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the second half of the 16th century, the town of Avesnes was the site of Franco-Spanish rivalry to take control of the Netherlands. Avesnes had six bastions built according to the plans of Devanter and Guichardin.

Reference is made to a "Bastion in front of the tower of Saint Jean" in written sources dating to 1559. It has the form of an "arrow-head" and the odd characteristic of a truncated salient. When it became too small to meet the needs of the growing artillery, Bastion Saint-Jean was extended in 1650 with a new polygonal shape on two levels and was doubled in size. This configuration can still be seen. The firing chambers and the countermine shafts soon became obsolete as they were too far from the new installations.

The upper part of the bastion, to the south, occupies two-thirds of the area, and rises over 20 metres above the valley. The lower part, which is smaller, controlled the sluice bridge – the Pont des Dames –, which controlled flooding of the eastern-side approaches of the town and flanked the curtain wall. The two levels are separated by a covered way, the purpose of which was to prevent ricochet shootings and enfilade firing of the firing step on the left side from the southern high ground. A ramp to the left connects the two levels. Nine years later, Avesnes became part of the kingdom of France. Vauban modified the bastion from 1690 to 1723 by adding a cavalier in the gorge of the bastion to dominate the whole structure and at the same time provide surveillance for its southern and eastern approaches. The two levels were decorated with formal French gardens in the 18th century.

In 1831-1832, the building, now small and out-of-date, was renovated and modernised, but it was finally decommissioned in 1867. The bastion and its land were sold.

The Bastion Saint Jean was registered on the French supplementary inventory of historic monuments in 1995 and was restored between June 1999 and September 2001.

bastion Saint-Jean

Avesnes-sur-Helpe Tourist Information Office

41, place du Général Leclerc BP 208 - 59363 Avesnes-sur-Helpe

Tel./Fax: +33 3.27.56.57.20

E-mail : ot.avesnes@wanadoo.fr

Quizz : Forts et citadels

From the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants of Toulon were heavily preoccupied with sheltering their town from an attack by sea. And although, with its fortified wall dating from the 14th century, Toulon could consider itself sheltered from a sudden attack from the land, its harbour remained entirely open to enemy fleets. Listening to the pleas of the province and alerted by the town council, in 1513 KIng Louis XII ordered the construction of a fortification in the form of a tower in the entrance to the port to defend its access. Originally called the Royal Tower, this fortification was immediately called the Great Tower or the Big Tower by the people, who were amazed at its size. In a municipal debate held on the 16th July 1513, the town council decided that this tower would be built on the cape known as la Manègue, in the entrance to the port, as the king had wanted. The execution of the work was under the supervision of an Italian engineer of great renown, Jean-Antoine de la Porta, who arrived at the port in early May 1514. The work was started on the 14th May, the date of the first excavations, to public rejoicing and would continue, often halted due to financial difficulties, for ten years. The Great Tower was completely finished and armed in May 1524. Command of it was entrusted to the unsavoury individual Captain Jehan du Mottet, famous for the cowardice with which he surrendered it to the Imperials, without a struggle, for 500 gold Ecus, when the latter invaded Provence in 1524. The enemy found 3 canons and 9 other artillery pieces there, which they drove to their camp outside Marseille, opening up the first route through the Ollioules gorges, in order to avoid the harsh climb up the Corps de Garde pass. Amongst the canons taken were the famous culverin, called Lézarde, which was later to cause so much harm to the French on the day of the Battle of Pavia (24th February 1525) and which was partly responsible for the victory. In 1529, the Great Tower was rearmed and as a result was able to resist in July and August 1536, when the fleet of Andréa Doria entered Toulon. It could not, however, prevent it from occupying the harbour during the new invasion of Provence by Charles Quint. During the persecutions suffered by the protestants in the province as a result of the Saint-Barthélémy massacre, about twenty Reformist families found asylum in the Great Tower.

It played no active role during the siege of 1707, but as it was powerfully armed, the ships of Admiral Showel's English fleet did not dare to break through the harbour. Towards the end of the 17th century, this fortress, which had for a long time provided the only defence of Toulon from the sea, was already no longer capable of providing a useful service. However, in 1746, it was still equipped with fifteen 24 canons, ten 18's, four 12's and two 6's, making a total of thirty one canons. From 1770 onwards, which was when Fort Lamalgue was finished, the Great Tower no longer played a major role in the defence of the harbour. The Revolution was to turn it into a jail; many victims were imprisoned and perished there. It had the same use during the counter-revolution of 1793. On the 19th May 1798, Josephine came to the Tower to say goodbye to Bonaparte as he set off on his expedition to Egypt. Although it was a pleasant prison in 1809 for the crew of the English frigate the Proserpine, captured off Sicié on the 27th February, for the duration of the First Empire it would accommodate in a more rudimentary fashion the many draft dodgers awaiting trial or their departure to the companies of pioneers. In 1825, the chapel was demolished and the small cemetery deconsecrated. The Tower had twenty-one canons in 1844. During the Franco-German war of 1870-1871, its basements were used to store the gold of the Bank of France. A project to install a battery of two 370mm canons there was abandoned in 1900. Since then, the Great Tower has been used as a store for naval construction, and to service torpedoes etc. In the 1914-1918 war German prisoners of war were interned there. During the 1939-1945 war it was occupied by the Germans and armed with various weapons, most notably anti-aircraft canons. It was hit several times and was badly damaged during the allied bombardments of 1943-1944. Between 1947 and 1948 it was cleared of rubble and a few minor repairs were carried out. Since the 11th April 1947 it has been listed as a historic monument.
A canon tower, almost circular in shape, 60 metres in diameter, with walls varying in thickness from 5 m to 3 m, it consists of a central nucleus, a low casemated battery with eight embrasures, a platform at access level with a drawbridge and an upper terrace protected by a solid wall forming a parados. It is surrounded by a wide moat. Several modifications have been carried out to the fort over the years: the addition of two low batteries at the end of the 17th century, whose embrasures are now blocked up; the establishment of a barracks on the platform and then a guard house; the development of the upper terraces to accommodate anti-aircraft artillery.
The central nucleus contains a collection of premises laid out on three levels, one above the other and linked by spiral staircases. In addition to two water tanks, there are vaulted halls used as storerooms and dungeons. It was all originally lit by natural light. The nine casemated cells are accessed by a circular gallery. A canon ramp links the stores with the upper terraces, allowing the transportation of artillery and ammunition.
This historic monument, managed by the Ministry of Defence, is covered by a Culture and Defence protocol, signed on the 17th September 2005. Click here to see the list of other buildings ...
Toulon Tourist Information Office Place Raimu 83000 Toulon Tel.: + 33 (0) 4 94 18 53 00

This, as well as its four lakes, means that the Pays de Langres defence system is one of the best preserved in comparison to its original state.

Context

After the 1870 war, Alsace and Moselle were annexed by the German Empire, depriving France of the natural defences provided by the Rhine and the majority of the Vosges mountain range. The country's entire defence system had to be modified. This task was completed by the General of the Engineers, Raymond Séré de Rivières.

Having noted the disadvantaged new borders and the fact that it would be impossible to stop the enemy on them, he decided to construct "defensive curtains" designed to help concentrate and move troops. With strongly fortified towns at each end (Verdun, Toul, Epinal and Belfort), these curtains formed a string of separate forts, preventing any passage. Two large breaches were left (at Charmes and Stenay) for troop manoeuvres.

This system, designed to offer support and openings for a French attack or channel German troops if they broke through, was complemented behind the front line by a second line of immense fortified camps (Besançon, Dijon and Langres). Their role was to support the curtains by coordinating an offensive or strategic retreat.

This colossal project, started in 1874, was practically complete within a decade.

Defensive structure

Modernisation of the structure, inherited directly from the mid-17th century, began in the mid-19th century: construction of the citadel (1842-1860), reconstruction of the enclosed town (1844-1856) and the start of work on Bonnelle and Peigney forts (1869). The project was rudely interrupted by the war of 1870. The lessons learned during the conflict confirmed the credibility of detached fortifications, and justified moving these away from the site itself due to rapid progress in artillery. From 1874, the aims of the system at Langres were to: support a reserve army amassed around Langres, provide backing for an army forced to abandon the Vosges or Franche-Comté, shelter the town and supply routes to the citadel from bombing and control the railway lines and prevent the enemy from using them.

The fortified camp was transformed up until 1893. After a half-century of intensive work it was made up of over forty structures (citadel, 8 detached forts, 20 batteries and infantry structures, 9 underground magazines and 4 strategic wells), linked by 60km of strategic roads.

Montlandon Fort (or Mortier Fort) was built between 1883 and 1885, 10km east of Langres. It covered an area of 8.5 hectares and could house 7 officers and 350 men. Today, it has been converted into a farm with accommodation. Visitors can enjoy meals and snacks, buy local produce and visit the fort and farm. Open for visits. Status: private property.

Le Cognelot or Vercingétorix Fort was built between 1874 and 1877 to control the Culmont-Chalindrey railway node, protect an army retreating towards the plateau and play a pivotal role in allowing an army to garrison the east and south-east ridges of the plateau, preventing the enemy from besieging them.

Le Congelot Fort covers an area of 29 hectares and is located 8 kilometres south-east of Langres. It could house 13 officers and 623 men (and up to 1,083 in wartime). As it needed to be autonomous, supplies were designed to last 3 months: in addition to 100,000 individual rations, 585 cubic metres of water (6 litres per man per day) were required. Guided visits are available to individuals every Sunday in July and August except when events are being held. Groups: all year round by appointment.

Peigney or Constance Chlore Fort was built between 1869 and 1875, 2.5km east of Langres. It is a trapezoidal point defence fort which covers an area of 18 hectares. It was designed to house 8 officers, 18 non-commissioned officers and more than 336 men. Its weaponry was made up of 49 pieces of artillery (plus 22 in reserve). Status: property of the civilian emergency service.

Pointe de Diamant or Defrance Fort is the smallest fort in the defence system. Its role, in combination with La Bonnelle Fort, was to control the plateau west of the site. It is situated 3.2km from Langres and was built between 1874 and 1877. It covers an area of almost 12.76 hectares and was capable of housing 8 officers, 18 non-commissioned officers, 334 troops and 29 pieces of artillery. Status: the fort, which belongs to a private company, has been abandoned and is therefore not open for visits.

Saint-Menge or Ligniville Fort. Saint-Menge Fort (also known as Ligniville fort after the first Prefect of Haute-Marne) formed an integral part of the 19th-century Langres defensive system. It is located 8km north of Langres. This trapezoidal stop fort covering an area of 22 hectares is equipped with two batteries and a fortified camp. Its construction, on the site of a promontory fort at the point where the Marne valley opens out, began in 1874. Once completed in 1881 it was capable of housing 19 officers, 37 non-commissioned officers, 754 troops and 68 pieces of artillery. Status: private property. Not open for visits.

La Bonnelle or Décres Fort This fort, construction of which had hardly begun at the time of the 1870 war, is the only structure to have come under enemy fire when the Prussians circumvented the fortifications in January 1871. The building of the fort commenced in 1869 and was finally completed in 1885, after two phases of works (1869-1875 and 1881-1885). It is a trapezoidal point defence fort covering an area of 18 hectares. It was capable of housing 13 officers, 50 non-commissioned officers, 610 troops, 4 horses and 45 pieces of artillery. Status: property of Saint-Geosmes village. Open for visits for groups only, by appointment. Contact: Pays de Langres tourist office.

Dampierre or Magalotti Fort is the most distant, but also the largest, of the eight forts of the Langres curtain. It was built between 1874 and 1879 between the Coudre and Traire valleys, and is France's largest fort (52 hectares). It is surrounded by 4 kilometres of ditches and was designed to house 43 officers, 146 non-commissioned officers and 1,350 troops. Its immense size is matched only by its weaponry capability - up to 142 pieces of artillery. Status: property of the Ministry of Defence. Not open for visits.

Plesnoy or Medavy Fort was built between 1877 and 1881, 11.8km north-east of Langres. It is a 38-hectare stop fort designed to house 25 officers, 48 non-commissioned officers, 768 men (and 300 artillerymen) and 47 pieces of artillery. Around it stand four batteries, one of which is built against the fort, and a detached powder magazine at Bois Salicaut. Status: private property. Closed to the public.

Information

Pays de Langres Tourist Office

BP16 - 52201 Langres cedex

Tel: +33 (0)3 25 87 67 67

Fax: +33 (0)3 25 87 73 33

Langres Citadel

52200 LANGRES

Tel: +33 (0)3 25 87 67 67

Fax: +33 (0)3 25 87 73 33

E-mail: info@tourisme-langres.com
 

Pays de Langres

The principles of the bastioned fortification were perfectly suited to this site. It houses the fortress’ living museum. Fort La Garde, inside the town of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, is situated 60 kilometres from Perpignan and 13 kilometres from the Spanish border.

Fort La Garde

The place became a border town following the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) when Vallespir, Roussillon, Conflent-Capcir and part of Cerdagne were annexed to the Kingdom of France.  At the time the fortress housed some one hundred soldiers. During the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), the threat from Spain prompted the King of France to reinforce the strategic site. The keep was thus built in 1677 around an ancient medieval signal tower in order to keep watch over the inhabitants following the uprising of the Angelets de la Terra or ‘angels of the land’ (between 1663 and 1672, some of the population of Vallespir and Conflent revolted against the gabelle, the salt tax).

After the Franco-Dutch War, Louis XIV decided to send military reinforcements to the eastern border with Spain. Seven fortified towns were concerned including Prats-de-Molla. He commissioned Vauban for the job. In 1686, after a trip to Roussillon in 1679, he enlarged the keep and built Le Pâté à Comète (an old château with a star-shaped surrounding wall) and the main courtyard or the ‘place of arms’. The original plans also included the reconstruction of the town’s ramparts destroyed during the Revolt of the Angelets. In 1691, the engineer Rousselot, in charge of the fortified towns in Roussillon, drew up plans for an extension, supported by Vauban. The war was temporarily interrupted by the works which, while resumed during the second half of the 18th century, were never completed.

The monument is characteristic of the bastioned fortification and was adjusted to the terrain. On the southern face, there are two lines of defence in front of the keep: the countergard and the ensemble formed by the bray, the Sainte-Marguerite redan (salient) and the right-hand ledge. The northern and eastern flanks are bordered by ravines. The western flank, which was more vulnerable to attack, was protected by a complex defence system and reinforced by a place of arms and a corridor known as a "Muhammad's tomb", a construction whose shape resembled a Muslim grave.

The materials used during the construction included granite from the Costabonne Massif, schist and brick. Military escape routes were also incorporated. This consisted of a passage starting in the place with 142 steps leading underground, dating from the 18^th century, ending at a redoubt with arch machicolations, the “square tower”. A covered way, between the town and the redoubt, completed this passage that gave soldiers stationed in the town a way to enter the fort in the event of attack. The last military improvements were made in the 19th century.

Classified as a historic monument in 1925, the site was acquired by the local municipality in 1976.

Musée Vauban: the living museum at the fortress

Today, the fort houses a museum dedicated to fortifications and military history, including the different corps of the army, armements and daily life in the 18^th century. Since 1996, the visit has also included live performances. The guided tour is punctuated by reenactments that portray military training in the 18th century. Visitors are treated to stunts, demonstrations and fighting during the 90 minute tour.

Fort Lagarde in Prats-de-Mollo

Tourist Information Office

Place le Foiral 66230 Prats de Mollo la Preste France

Tel: +33 4 68 39 70 83

Fax: +33 4 68 39 74 51

E-mail: contact@pratsdemollolapreste.com

Office de tourisme de Prats de Mollo la Preste

Fort du Salbert

Route du Fort Salbert

90300 Cravanche

Tourist Information Office

2 rue Clemenceau

90000 Belfort

Tel.: +33 (0)3 84 55 90 90

Fax : +33 (0)3 84 55 90 70

E-mail : tourisme90@ot-belfort.fr

Quiz : Forts et citadelles

The intermediate fortification of Meroux was built between 1908 and 1913 to reinforce the line of defence between Fort of Vézelois and the Fort of Fougerais.

Small in size and with a very simple design, it represents the final step in the evolution of French fortification before the First World War.

Built entirely of concrete, it has a trapezoid shape and is surrounded by a ditch defended by two counterscarp coffers.

Access was via the ditch and all of the fort's parts are interconnected by bulletproof underground passages.

There is a parapet for infantry on top.

It could accommodate over 400 men in its barracks.

Fort of Méroux

Rue de l'Ouvrage

90400 Meroux

Tourist Information Office

2 rue Clemenceau

90000 Belfort

Tel.: +33 (0)03 84 55 90 90

Fax : +33 (0)3 84 55 90 70

E-mail : tourisme90@ot-belfort.fr

Quizz : Forts et citadelles