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… siege construction made by Litus, Cherbourg has had a castle since the 10th century. The first urban wall is thought … importance of the port which faced England. In 1639, the commissioner general of the navy of Louis XIII, Louis le … that Louis XVI agreed to reconsider Cherbourg as a site for a military port. In 1779, the engineer de Caux took …

… Lille History and description Coming into existence along a meandering stretch of the … was not finished until between 1672 and 1673. The choice of site was dictated by the topohydrography: the presence of …

… Abbeville History and description Manifest for the first time in … Longuetown was modified. However, these projects remained incomplete at the time of his passing in 1610. The cardinal of Richelieu, the Prime Minister under Louis XIII, visited the site on 29 October 1636 and ordered the …

… History and description A town of Gallo-Roman origin, Seyne-les-Alpes had its first fortifications built around 1220 … first wall with bastioned towers. Their construction was completed in 1692. Vauban did not visit Seyne but included … and enclosed one of the bastioned towers. In 1700, Vauban visited Seyne and thinks the citadel was poorly constructed …

… Fort de la Latte History and description The château de la Latte can be traced back to at least the 14th century. Besieged multiple times, it was … later, the engineer Garangeau renovated this ancient site, by transforming it into a coastal battery in 1691. The …

… Fouras History and description A site fortified since the 12th century, the castle of Fouras was reconstructed during the 14th-15th … constructed on the former moats of Ferry, which remained incomplete. castle then fort François Ferry Charente-Maritime …

… Port-en-Bessin History and description The artillery tower of Port-en-Bessin was constructed in 1694 in … the War of the League of Augsburg. The engineer Benjamin de Combes completed it in based on the models of Vauban. The … classed as a historical monument since 1948 and can be visited. … Port-en-Bessin …

… Château du Taureau History and description A site occupied since the Antiquity, Morlaix remained without … was in 1540. At the time, it consisted of an artillery tower, named the tour Française, and a battery, the … by engineers Garangeau and Frézier. The fort was only completed in 1745, at the start of the war of Succession of …

… Amédée V and became the subject of numerous power struggles from 1305 to 1601, whereupon it was finally given to … its destruction during a siege in 1815. The July Monarchy completed the defensive installations with the construction … of a road tunnel under the fort saw all interest in the site as the location of a fort lost. fort Sébastien le …

… Toulon History and description A site occupied since prehistoric times, Toulon (Tholus … its inclusion in the Roman Provence in 120 AD. In the middle Ages, the town had its first fortifications built in the … the project in 1589 and directed the construction up to its completion in 1595. This urban wall was extended into the …

… several times during the following century before finally becoming a permanent part of France of Mazarin under the … the town. The urban wall remained however, from the middle Ages. In 1624, Louis XIII tasked Sublet de Noyers with … However the construction remained incomplete when Vauban visited in 1663. Accordingly, Vauban decided to gather …

… description The village of Morvan, Epiry is not a fortified site. Its inclusion in this inventory is based on the fact … lived there during his first twenty years of marriage, at least when possible for him to do so. Vauban reorganised the … there in 1809 on the orders of Napoléon I in order to commemorate the fact that Vauban lived there. The church is …

… Ambleteuse History and description The first modern … date back to 1544-1546. In 1685, Vauban chose this site to build a coastal defensive battery, which was … one first rampart flanked the tower. Work at the site was completed in 1690, during the war of the League of …

… Valenciennes History and description Situated on the confluent … of Valenciennes appeared during the Roman period, on a site previously occupied by the Gauls. The first … been well preserved and surrounded the original nucleus comprising the eglise Notre-Dame-du-Saint-Cordon, the eglise …

… La Rochelle History and description A town founded in the 10th … the engineer Francis Ferry, a colleague of Vauban, to the site to reconstruct the urban wall there. This construction site was completed in 1724. The new urban wall was far bigger than …

… Le Quesnoy History and description A town founded around … ever since it first came into being. The first urban wall comprised crenelated walls with a protected walkway and … ponds. The engineer Génédot, commissioned to come on-site, criticised it but did not offer any alternative …

… and later reinforced under the Arab occupation. The castle and town were constructed from the 8th century. … Following the death of Louis XIV, new constructions commenced at Collioure. The fort Carré and the star tower … citadel and the fort Saint-Elme were preserved and can be visited. They house museums and exhibition spaces. The fort …

… Située au débouché d’une vallée sur la plaine du Pô, la ville de Pignerol apparaît au Moyen Âge et reçoit alors ses … à transformer l’enceinte urbaine et l’enclavement complet du château médiéval, construits en terre et … célèbre Masque de Fer. Les interventions de Vauban Vauban visite les lieux pour la première fois en 1669. Il signe un …

… the siege of Brest by the English, one that Vauban had repelled. The site had already been marked out in 1685 and a project of … gate was included in this front. Within the ramparts, the complete set-up included barracks, a guardroom, food stores, …

… a coastal defence. This fort was replaced by a medieval castle from the 12th century. Up to the 16th century, the … given the difficulties of developing what was a steep site, situated in the estuary of the river Penfeld, in the … became silted up. In 1667, the Knight of Clerville, Commissioner-General of the fortifications, set up a project …

… A town of ancient origin, Nice has been fortified since at least the middle Ages. In the 14th century, the area of the … on the orders of Emmanuel-Philibert I of Savoy. A hornwork comprising two orillon bastions was built in front of the … county of Nice, ordered this construction in 1677. Vauban visited Nice for the first time in 1693, two years after it …

… the name Collis Martis (following the presence of a temple dedicated to March), Colmars (or Colmars-les-Alpes) was … work on the two gates. The remainder of the urban wall was completed by the barbicans and machicolations. In 1692, … delegated the architect Niquet and engineer Richerand on site. Niquet restored the medieval urban wall and added five …

… History and description Situated in the Haut Vallespir, near the sources of the Tech, Prats-de-Mollo was … around the tour de la Guardia. In April 1670, Vauban visited Prats-de-Mollo. Deeming the destruction of the city … Louvois, the War Minister, persuaded Louis XIV against completing the project but the medieval defensive walls were …

… origin, the first urban wall in Blaye was built in the middle Ages, as well as a castle. These fortifications were … To do so, he continued the modernisation which Pagan had commenced: the medieval urban wall was totally restored and … stock houses were also constructed there. The construction site of the citadel, overseen by Ferry, was completed in …

… description A town of medieval origins, the Old Town (Vieille Ville) of Nancy had its first city fortifications built … urban wall of 1550. Only the porte Saint-Nicolas allowed communication between the two towns. The town-planning of … place Carrière and place Neuve today retrace the site of the rampart, which used to separate the two towns. A …

… Mirepeysset History and description The site of Mirepeysset (or Mirepeďsset) is linked to the canal du Midi, just like that of Cammazes covered in the file of the same name. It is linked to one of the difficult … crossing the Cesse river, encased in a hollow of land in comparison to the level of water in the canal. When he …

… in around 1684 in order to remedy a lack of water in Versailles. The Machine de Marly did not allow sufficient supply to … was one of the main obstacles on this route. To overcome it, it was decided to construct an aqueduct. The … of the valley. The penstocks were never laid, and the site was very rapidly used as a quarry for the local …

… centuries. Abandoned under the Merovingians, and with at least one urban wall since the 12th century, it was besieged … and the New castle. In 1681, Vauban remodelled this ancient site by improving the above installations and designed … The works were conducted by the engineer Ferry and completed in 1685. During this construction work, the …