Castle Map

Fortress

Citadel of Belfort

France · 17th century

Founded
c. 1650
Architect
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban
Heritage status
monument historique inscrit · classified historical monument
Location
Belfort
Coordinates
47.63694°, 6.86556°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia (FR) ↗
Citadel of Belfort in France
Photo: Thomas Bresson · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The citadel of Belfort is a citadel and set of fortifications dating from the 17th century and completed in the 19th century by the military engineers Haxo and Séré de Rivières, in Belfort in the Territoire de Belfort in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

It is a strategic historic site of military defence, belonging to the fortified town of Belfort, the fortifications of eastern France, the iron belt and the towns fortified by Marshal of France Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. Its status as an "impregnable" fortress of the Belfort Gap is commemorated in the 19th century by the Lion of Belfort monument by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi and in the 20th century by the Monument of the Three Sieges of Belfort, begun by Auguste Bartholdi and completed after his death by the sculptors Louis Noël and Jules Déchin.

The citadel is the subject of multiple historic monument protections: a classification on 23 October 1907 (Brisach gate), modified by a classification on 20 August 1913, a classification on 6 March 1923 (outworks: advanced bastion B, exterior walls and roof of the bastion, rampart wall and its roof running from bastion B to the Brisach gate, rampart wall and its roof running from the Brisach gate to the château, moats completing the 17th-century defence system), a listing on 13 August 1993 (covered mill canal) and a classification on 29 April 1997 (all the works constituting the château and its fortifications).

On 18 September 2020, the citadel was named the "favourite monument of the French" during the France 3 programme Le monument préféré des Français, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days.

Machine-translated from “Citadelle de Belfort” on the French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Citadel of Belfort ranks #5,733 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #494 of the 954 mapped in France. Founded c. 1650, it is older than 26% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,863 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Mulhouse, 38 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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