Photo : Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Fort Libéria
Fort Libéria, built by Vauban between 1681 and 1683, stands some 150 metres above the fortified town of Villefranche-de-Conflent, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It is one of the Vauban fortifications listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The fort, used as a garrison and a prison, includes wall walks, bastions, a chapel and galleries. It notably houses the cells where women involved in the Affair of the Poisons, which shook the court of Louis XIV, were imprisoned. It was remodelled in the 19th century under Napoleon III.
An underground passage, nicknamed the 'thousand-step staircase' although it has only 734 steps, links the fort to the town. A 4x4 shuttle can take visitors up to the fort: you can drive up, visit, then walk back down by the covered staircase.
