Sète

History and description

A site occupied since the Antiquity, Sète only became a significant port from 1666 with the creation of the port of Louis XIV. The site did not have fortifications right from the start. It was not until 1686 that Vauban designed a project for Sète. This involved upgrading the port, which had suffered from silting. Following his death and following an English attack, the engineer Niquet created a battery on the site of the current fort Saint-Pierre.
It was not until the 18th century that new defences were constructed at the port of Sète. The engineer Mareschal constructed two forts : Richelieu and Saint-Pierre, on the flanks of the colline Sainte-Claire (Saint-Claire hill), bordering the entrance of the channel of the port of Sète. The two forts could provide crossfire to ensure mutual protection. The fort Saint-Pierre replaced the battery of Niquet. It was an irregular hexagon, built on seven platforms set in an amphitheatre facing the sea. The central platforms held the military buildings, the other supported the artillery installations. Four barbette batteries covered the whole area of the port. The fort Richelieu included three terraces, set in separate wing-shaped structures. At the centre, the nerve core comprised a platform supporting the main artillery battery, facing the sea, behind which the barracks were located. On the hillside, a protruding section in the form of a ravelin covered the structures of the fort and housed a powder keg. The batteries located on the wings ensured coastal projection to the west and east as well as that of the fort Saint-Pierre on a lower level. Arrow slits were installed on the flanks for musket fire and the barracks were equipped with vaulted chambers as an experimental move. Commencing in 1743, the construction was completed three years later. A third fort, higher up on the Sainte-Claire hill, was not built.