The speed at which Strasbourg fell, on 28 September 1870, after 46 days of siege, prompted the German High Command, under the authority of General Von Moltke and Von Kameke, to formulate a defence plan for the Empire’s western borders that planned to turn the towns of Cologne, Metez, Thionville and Strasburg into fortified camps, protecting their perimeters by a ring of armed forts.

The defensive ring around Strasbourg

Strasbourg was thus protected by a ring of detached, half-buried, heavily fortified and armed structures, even before the construction of the new urban line of fortifications that would be started in 1876 after the commissioning of the first forts. The works began in 1872, under the direction of the engineering officers Hauptmann Stephan (Fort Rapp) and Volkmann (on the Rhine side in the northeast to pass over to Kehl on the right bank via the southeast).

Fort Reichstett (Moltke) was inaugurated on 26 September 1874. Eleven structures were built in Alsace covering a perimeter of nearly 35 kilometres and three structures around Kehl (in Germany) covering a perimeter of 18 kilometres. The line included forts with dry and wet ditches. The masonry, in dressed standstone from Vosges and bricks manufactured in Rust (Germany) and Achenheim (Alsace), puts these monuments in the Neo-Prussian style. Two to three thousand workers were employed, including Italian bricklayers.

Fort Rapp-Moltke

The outpost covered 4.5 hectares and was made up of some 220 rooms and facilities. The fort comprised: an entrance with a place of arms, guard house, large powder store and guard quarters during peace time; a dry ditch surrounding the fort fitted with a covered way supplemented by a barbed-wire fence; barracks on two levels housed the troops quarters and services (HQ, kitchen, bakery, infirmary, sleeping quarters, washing facilities, etc.) and were equipped with a defence system of the ditch by flanking; an entrance into the fort composed of a gate, draw bridge and reinforced door; a central corridor leading to the casemates; casemates composed of alarm rooms, powder stores, munitions assembly rooms, goods hoist for moving munitions into artillery positions at the top of the fort; front and side parapets surmounting the fort, reserved for artillery pieces.

The outposts were protected by: sheltered corridors, a reinforced observation turret made it easier to keep watch of the front; a double caponier above the front ditch, converted in 1885 to a front battery was built in the counyterscarp with a system of countermines and sewers completing the frontal defence system; adjoining batteries to the left and right. Each fort was defended by 18 cannons (90 to 150 and even 220 mm) in firing position; 18 reserve pieces of artillery in the interior courtyards (cannons and mortars). The short-range defence was assured by 90-120 mm cannons which were later replaced by Hotchkiss 37-mm revolver cannons and 53-mm rapidfire machine guns. The fort could hold 800 men (infantrymen, pioneers, artillerymen and guards) under the command of 15 officers.

An evolving system

In 1885, the discovery of picric acid and the manufacture of torpedo shells triggered a huge crisis in military constructions. High Command decided to take the artillery outside the fort to form the adjoining batteries, reinforce the top sections of the forts with “special concrete” and granite blocks, convert windows in the barracks into fire stands, turn the double caponier into a front-facing battery offering greater protection and equipped with revolver cannons, fit out the walls with counterscarps of metal gates and build the entrance via the ditch, install blast-proof doors at certain access points, and reinforce the fort’s defences with two marine artillery pieces, 150 mm on rails.

From 1890, intermediate structures were built between the forts to block up any gaps; these included infantry, artillery and munitions buildings to complete the defence system. In this year, the fort in Strasbourg lost its strategic importance due to the stronghold erected in Mutzig (1893-1914) that had the capacity for up to 6,500 men with artillery in turrets and armoured shields.

Between 1914 and 1918, the fort was used as a munitions and equipment store then a camp for Russian and Italian prisoners. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France following the Treaty of Versailles and the site was integrated into the Maginot Line as a rear base for the 226th Infantry Regiment of Strasbourg and a rest centre for the fortress troops based in the fortifications along the Maginot Line along the Rhine. Marine artillery pieces were placed on top of the fort around 1937.

The Ney-Rapp intermediate structure occupied by the 155^th Fortress Artillery Regiment, was damaged by an explosion in June 1940. From 1940 to 1944, the German army used the stronghold as a warehouse. It was occupied by the FFI and the first French and American troops during the Liberation. Between 1946 and 1968, the fort was used as a munitions store.

After being decommissioned, the site was allocated to the civil protection department of the French Ministry of the Interior. In 1993, the Friends of Fort Rapp Association was tasked with rescuing, preserving and restoring this military structure. After three years of work, the fort was opened to the public.

Fort Rapp-Moltke

Rue de Lorraine 67116 Reichstett

Contact: mjg.schuler@evc.net

Tourisme 67

Ajaccio, which is set at the top of a gulf, has been inhabited since Ancient times. From the 12th century onwards, the Genoese, wishing to establish a base of operations to support Calvi and Bonifacio in defending them against the threat from the Barbary Coast, built a fortification on the site, named Castel Lombardo.

Unfit for habitation, the position was abandoned three centuries later in 1492-1493 in favour of Capo di Bollo at Leccia Point. Cristoforo de Gandino, Francesco Sforza's military architect, was appointed by the Company of St. George to carry out the work for this site and at Calvi. Genoese and Ligurian families including the Bonapartes then set up a populating colony.

At that time, the town was structured around a fan formation of three roads: the Strada del Domo, the Strada San Carlo and the Strada Dritta, to plans drawn by the architect Pietro da Mortara. The citadel, which was built at the same time, was initially made up of a keep or citadel (castello) and a low curtain wall. In 1502-1503, the defensive features were enhanced with a ditch dug in rock around the citadel, accessible via a drawbridge, and strong walls around the settlement.

The town, which fell under French control between 1553 and 1559 was modified and extended, taking on its current hexagonal shape, the corners of which were reinforced with bastions. The Cateau-Cambrésis treaty returned the town to the Republic of Genoa, which commissioned the engineer Jacopo Frattini to fortify the seafront. He had a bastion built there, separated from the town by a ditch. During the 18th century, Corsica struggled in vain to escape foreign domination; in 1729, 1739 and 1763 the islanders attempted to take control of Ajaccio but it was placed directly under French control when the Genoese sold the island to France in 1768.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in this town, and biographers tell that the ramparts and the citadel fuelled his games and dreams before featuring in his military and political career.

Used as a prison during the Second World War, Ajaccio Citadel was to be the last destination of the heroic Resistance fighter Fred Scamaroni. Scamaroni, who created the Gaullist Corsican Action R2 network in 1941, was mandated by General de Gaulle in January 1943 to try to bring unity to the Resistance movement. Betrayed by his radio operator, he was arrested by the OVRA (Italian counter-espionage) during the night of 18-19 March 1943. He chose to cut his throat with a piece of wire, leaving a last message written in his own blood: "Long live France and long live de Gaulle".

The citadel belonged to the Ministry of Defence until it was passed over to the city of Ajaccio in 2005.

Ajaccio city tourist office

3, Bd du Roi Jérôme BP 21 20000 Ajaccio

Tel: +33 (0)4 95 51 53 03

Fax: +33 (0)4 95 51 53 01

The Citadel of Blaye is one of the finest examples of 17th century military architecture. Started in 1652 by Pagan, it was extended, strengthened and completed by Vauban between 1685 and 1689. Designed to protect the port of Bordeaux, this complex seals off the Gironde at Blaye. On the right bank, it consists of a citadel comprising three successive fronts with orilloned bastions, a demi-lune and covered walkway, all of which are typical of Vauban's second system. On the Gironde side, a wall and batteries overlook a cliff that overhangs the river at a height of 45 metres. However, the range of artillery at the time was not capable of totally preventing ships from passing. Vauban therefore designed two other forts which allowed artillery cross-fire and the control of the Gironde.

On the left bank, the engineer Ferry built Fort Médoc, which was trapezoid in shape and had a very fine entrance gate. In the middle of the river, on a sand bank, he built a solid, low, round tower, Fort Paté, crowned with a parapet with embrasures and a gun terrace. The unstable nature of the ground made it necessary to set the tower on a double grill of wood, submerged for a year in the wet ground. Despite subsidence of 2 metres in 1707, the fort, which was consolidated in the 18th century, has remained intact.
The Citadel is still partly inhabited. Access is either on foot via the Porte Dauphine, or by car via the Porte Royale. Inside, there is the Museum of History and Art of the Blaye area. There is also the château des Rudel, a medieval triangular château where the troubadour Geoffroy Rudel, the lover of the "distant Princess" Melisande of Tripoli, was born. On the platform of the Tour des Rondes, an observatory offers a view across the town and over the Gironde estuary. From the Aiguillette Tower, you can also see the Gironde and all the little islands in it. Also worth seeing are the Place d'Armes where there is the Minimes Convent and the Pavillon de la Place, in which the Duchess of Berry was detained. A real little town within a town, the Citadel is on the list of Historic Monuments and today plays host to more than 200,000 visitors a year.
Tourist Information Office of the canton of Blaye Les allées marines 33390 Blaye Telephone: +33 (0) 5 57 42 12 09 fax: + 33 (0) 5 57 42 91 94 Mail: info@tourisme-blaye.com Opening and closing times The citadel is open every day all year round, with groups by appointment. Charges : Free entry

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.

Located at Bénerville-sur-Mer (Calvados), the protected natural site of Mont Canisy overlooks the sea from a height of 110 metres.

For centuries, the strategic position to the south of the Seine Bay occupied by this site has led it to be used successively as a seigniorial fief which was broken up in 1793, an anti-submarine defence post in 1917-1918, a coastal battery between 1935 and 1940 and then the largest artillery base of operations for the Atlantic Wall. In recent history, it has twice been used as a coastal artillery position: between 1935 and 1940 when the French Navy installed two batteries on the site to contribute to the defence of the estuary and Le Havre port, and between 1942 and 1944 when it became an important part of the Atlantic Wall defences, designed to repel any allied landing attempt.

Various installations from these two periods can still be seen (blockhouses, gun emplacements, fortified ouvrages linked by a 260-metre-long passageway housing an underground garrison, etc.).

Mont Canisy battery

Tel: +33 (0)2 31 87 91 14

Opening hours on Saturdays: 2.30pm to 5.30pm

Mont Canisy batteries website

The casemate of Pont Saint Louis is to be found in a small square opposite the French customs building to the left of the Number 5 trunk road, barely 7 metres from the border. It consists of the casemate itself, an anti-tank barrier and a permanent mine device (dispositif de mines permanent or DMP) located 20 metres behind at the Garavan crossroads, opposite the current police station. It also comprises an anti-tank barrier completed by a minefield, i.e. two rows of 6 holes in which Ollivier piquets (105 mm shells mounted on steel stakes) were set. The anti-tank barrier was strengthened with torque rods and the obstacle was completed with barbed wire. Originally, a trench led towards the double doors on which there was a support for an FM 24/29 used for the close defence of the access trench. This position was used for launching signalling grenades or rockets in order to request artillery fire (green rocket) or possible withdrawal of the company (red rocket). Construction of the fortification The fortification was built by a civil company at a cost of 0.34 million old Francs. For comparison purposes, the Cap Martin fortification cost 17 million Francs. The pilot study dates back to the 1st October 1930, but a project from the 14th March 1940 allowed the acquisition of extra premises. The structural work was finished in August 1932 following several incidents, in particular problems with the housing for the 37 mm canon. In 1934, the fortification was permanently commissioned. The casemate was finally finished, despite the doubts raised by General Besson when he inspected the fortification in April 1938: "this blockhouse won't last 5 minutes... ".

Description of the fortification We enter through a narrow corridor about twelve metres long, 0.80 metres wide and 1.70 metres high, which leads to the firing chamber. Opposite the entrance there is a small 2 metre square room, which contains a ventilation system, a filtering box and a space that is also used for ventilation. Outside, there is the OTCF radio station aerial and telephone cable linking the building with Cap Martin. The firing chamber contains a slot for an FM 24/29 and space to house either the 37 mm 1934 model anti-tank canon or Reibel machine guns. Taking into account the proximity to the border and the reduced firing range (6 metres wide and 10 metres long) the canon has always remained in the space and the pair of machine guns have never been used. A grenade launcher chute is located to the right of the anti-tank housing.
The crew of the casemate was taken from the 96th Alpine Fortress Battalion and comprised Sergeant Bourgoin, Corporal Lucien Robert, some alpine soldiers, Gaston Chazarin, Marcel Guzzi, Nicolas Petrio, André Garon and Paul Lieutaud and was commanded from 17th June 1940 by sub-lieutenant Charles Gros. The casemate and its crew were cited on the Order of the Army by General René Olry.
The casemate of Pont Saint Louis Esplanade Jojo Arnaldi 06500 Menton Tel.: +33 (0) 6 64 26 34 61 or +33 (0) 6 69 48 69 57 Access : Bus lines 3 and 8 from Menton railway station Open to the public all year round by appointment. From June to September: on Saturdays by appointment and on Sundays from 9 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm Prices Group (more than 10 people): 1€ 50 Adults: 1€00 Children (under 10 years old): 0€50 Free (on production of card) for Police, military police, customs officers, ex-servicemen and military personnel. Document in Pdf format - 5 Mo June 1940 - the glorious defence of the Pont Saint-Louis - Source: www.maginot.org

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