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… Givet – Charlemont History and description The town of Givet was founded … men and three thousand horses are believed to have been accommodated at this site. A settlement project and one to expand the urban wall …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 Entrevaux only emerged under the … defend the town sparked its relocation to a site along the left bank and installation at the present-day spur. The town …

… 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 … castle at the start of the 9th century, on the site of the future fortress of the Modern Era. In the 12th century, the …

… 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 … 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 engineer Niquet continued in the same vein up until 1726. hydraulic construction Pierre-Paul Riquet, Louis-Nicolas …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 … as well as a watch tower on the plateau de Saint-André (in 1265 in the latter). The château Belin and the château Bracon …

… 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, …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… Perpignan History and description Founded on a strategic site since Antiquity, Perpignan became the residence of the … fortifications were built in the form of a primitive Cellera, very rapidly replaced by an initial urban wall, of … also equipped with ravelins. This initial construction was completed in 1577 but others followed in the 16th and 17th …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …

… 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 …