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… History and description Main agglomeration of the île de Ré, Saint-Martin-de-Ré was founded in 737 with the … The citadel was a bastioned square fort but remained incomplete when the English took over the isle in 1627, coming … sent to the isle in 1674. Later, Ferry, who was still on-site, designed the project that Vauban approved and which …

… Fort de Bouc History and description The site of the tour du Bouc has been occupied since the 13th … twenty-one metres in height, and with five floors. People went in and out on the first floor via a ladder. The … vaulted and linked by a spiral staircase. The garrison accommodated here included ten men and their captain. This …

… description Located not far from the Spanish frontier, the site of Socoa (the corner in Basque) comprised a cap formed by a rocky outcrop, said to be of the … another battery, namely that of Sainte-Barbe, installed on the other side. In 1627, during the Thirty Years war …

… Fort de Bellegarde History and description The Bellegarde hill (420 m. … pass (271 m.) perched on the Franco-Spain border. The site has been occupied since the middle Ages, the objective … however. In March 1668, the Knight of Clerville, Commissioner-General of the fortifications, visited the site …

… Sète History and description A site occupied since the Antiquity, Sète only became a … held the military buildings, the other supported the artillery installations. Four barbette batteries covered the … wing-shaped structures. At the centre, the nerve core comprised a platform supporting the main artillery battery, …

… Entrevaux History and description A site occupied since the time of the Celts, the town of … defend the town sparked its relocation to a site along the left bank and installation at the present-day spur. The town …

… of medieval origin, Port-Louis, which was originally called Blavet, had its first modern fortifications built in the … full bastions on its land-facing fronts. In 1683, Vauban visited the site. His opinion regarding the citadel and the … was very negative, but he considered that the site itself compensated for the weakness of the port defences, which had …

… Concarneau History and description The site of the rock of Concarneau has been occupied since the … the wedding of Anne de Bretagne with the King of France Charles VIII transformed Concarneau in a royal stronghold. In … with new firing chambers. A project from 1694 remained incomplete. In 1837, the July Monarchy modernised the site by …

… Fort d’Alès Le château féodal d’Alès Alès dispose d’un château depuis le … plusieurs fois assiégé et reconstruit au cours des siècles. L’ancien château des seigneurs d’Alais était en très … Peletine. En 1623, quelques réparations sont effectuées pour le fortifier et y loger des troupes. Le dernier siège …

… 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 …

… Cammazes History and description The site of Cammazes is linked to the canal du Midi between the … to link the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. The problem of how to ensure an adequate water supply arose very … the output in Bas-Languedoc. Louis XIV finally decided to commence construction including drilling from 1666. The …

… and description An agglomeration of medieval origin, the site of Montmédy had its first fortifications built in 1221 when Count Arnould III de Chiny constructed a castle there on the rocky headland dominating the course of the … a urban wall surrounded the Upper Town (Ville Haute) to complete the defensive set-up. From 1544, Charles Quint …

… 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 …

… Sainte-Marguerite History and description Situated on the île de Lérins, facing the town of Cannes, the site of the fort Sainte-Marguerite has been a strategic hub … around the primitive castle. This construction was still incomplete however, when the Spanish gave the isle to the …

… Marseille History and description Founded by the Greeks in the 5th … de la Garde (hill of the Guard). The construction did not commence until 1536, and was the first modern construction … occupied in this way. The fort Saint-Jean was built on the site of the tour Maubert and the tour du Fanal. It was …

… Le Palais History and description The largest of the Breton … fort, Belle-Île became a royal citadel. In 1680, Vauban visited the site, which Louis XIV wished to reinforce, … and the July Monarchy, to be later continued and completed under the Second Empire (around 1860-1870), the …

… was constructed in 1453, at the same time as the Hâ castle, under the reign of King Charles VII of France following … project. The construction of the second château Trompette commenced in 1664 and was finished eleven years later, … and architect Nicolas Payen was the person supervising on-site. In 1680, Vauban’s attention turned to the weaknesses …

… Saint-Vincent-les-Forts La construction du fort Saint-Vincent en 1693 … d’eau de pluie, d’une boulangerie et d’une maison du commandant. Une seconde porte, équipée d’un hourd, perce le … l’aide de l’Association des Amis du fort Saint-Vincent. Le site est ouvert au public lors des Journées Européennes du …

… Gravelines Historique et description A site occupied by fishermen since the 7th century, Gravelines … ramparts and brick walls. It was also endowed with a castle intended to oversee the locks of the river Aa and its … not until midway through the 18th century that they were completed with the deepening of the Aa channel in 1740. …

… Salins-les-Bains History and description Situated in the valley of the river called Furieuse (altitude: 300 m.), the site of Salins-les-Bains has been occupied since the Gallic … of Salins-les-Bains, which was the second town of Franche-Comté in the middle Ages. It was surrounded by an urban wall …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… and description Created in 1597 by the Italian engineer Ercole Negro, the fort Barraux was constructed on the orders of … have originated from the two earlier fortifications, Bellecombe and La Buissière, which had been abandoned twenty … The internal buildings were thus dispersed over the site, with no effort made to redesign them. A barracks, …

… In medieval times, a further urban wall including multiple round towers, which was repaired around the 14th century, … excesses. On each occasion, the town was conquered and completely devastated. To guard against any repeat, Francis … of the same name, in order to protect the mooring. Vauban visited Antibes in 1679 and 1682. He had completed an …

… 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 …

… Hébihens Les origines de la construction de la tour Site stratégique pour la protection de la baie de la … visant à créer un asile aux navires de pêche. Le comte Louis de Pontbriand, capitaine garde-côte, commandite …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …