Photo : Régis Martel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Citadelle de Sisteron
Between Provence and the Dauphiné, overlooking the gorge through which the Durance flows, the citadel of Sisteron, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, stands against the sky and crowns the town with its walls, bastions and keep. The view from it is striking, extending over 150 km, one of the finest in Haute-Provence.
A listed historic monument covering 10 hectares, it bears eight centuries of architecture and history. The keep and wall-walk, built on the narrow rocky ridge, date from the 13th century, and the tiers of bastioned walls from the 16th. Of Vauban's plan of 1692, only the powder magazine was built. Major alterations were made to the north side in the mid-19th century, when the magnificent underground staircase linking the fortress to the town was cut into the rock.
