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Castles · Doubs
Citadelle de Besançon
A Vauban masterpiece classified as UNESCO World Heritage, the Besançon Citadel is considered one of the most beautiful citadels in France.
View full page →The fortifications of Vauban
Military engineer to Louis XIV, Vauban fortified or built more than a hundred and fifty strongholds along the kingdom's borders. Star-shaped citadels, new towns laid out on a geometric plan, forts perched in the mountains or towers facing the sea: his work has left a deep mark on the French landscape.
Twelve major sites have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2008. This selection brings together most of them, from Besançon to Neuf-Brisach and from Briançon to Saint-Martin-de-Ré, along with other remarkable citadels such as those of Lille and Belfort.
13selected sites
7regions
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Towns & cities · Haut-Rhin
Neuf-Brisach
Octagonal fortified town designed by Vauban, inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.
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Castles · Pas-de-Calais
Citadelle d'Arras
Built to Vauban's plans between 1668 and 1672 on the orders of Louis XIV.
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Castles · Nord
Citadelle de Lille
Called the queen of citadels, the Lille citadel was Vauban's first great personal achievement.
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Castles · Territoire de Belfort
Citadelle de Belfort
The Belfort Citadel, also called the Citadel of Liberty, is the most important example of architecture built by Vauban.
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Villages · Hautes-Alpes
Briançon ville forte du dauphiné
Former capital of the Republic of the Escartons in the fourteenth century then a military town of the Alps, Briançon is on the Route des Grandes Alpes, between Grenoble and Turin.
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Castles · Hautes-Alpes
Place forte de Mont-Dauphin
The stronghold of Mont-Dauphin, built by Vauban from 1693, is one of the 12 major Vauban sites inscribed in 2008 as UNESCO World Heritage.
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Villages · Pyrénées-Orientales
Villefranche-de-Conflent
In the eleventh century, the powerful count of Cerdanya, opposed to the count of Roussillon, found in Villefranche a strategic site, the village being deeply set at the confluence of two rivers.
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Castles · Pyrénées-Orientales
Fort Libéria
This fort was built by Vauban in 1681 and strengthened under Napoleon III.
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Towns & cities · Pyrénées-Orientales
Mont-Louis
Vauban's stronghold in Cerdanya, the highest in France, inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.
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Castles · Gironde
Citadelle de Blaye
The Blaye citadel is a 38-hectare military complex built between 1685 and 1689 by the military architect François Ferry, director general of the Guyenne fortifications, under the supervision of Sébastien Vauban.
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Towns & cities · Charente-Maritime
Saint-Martin-de-Ré
The fortified port of the Île de Ré, with its citadel and Vauban ramparts inscribed by UNESCO.
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Monuments · Finistère
Tour Vauban de Camaret-sur-Mer
A bastioned Vauban tower on the edge of the Brest roadstead, inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.
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