France · 17th century
The Fort de Bellegarde (Fort or Castell de Bellaguarda / Bellaguàrdia in Catalan) is a 17th-century bastion fortification located above the town of Le Perthus, in the Pyrénées-Orientales département of southern France.
Le Perthus became French territory after the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). Bellegarde was captured by the Spaniards in 1674, but retaken by Schomberg in 1675.
In 1678, Vauban's plans for the new fortress of Bellegarde were approved.
During the War of the Pyrenees, the fortress was besieged in May - June 1793 by the Spanish and then by the French (May - Sept. 1794).
During World War II, the fort was used as a holding prison by the Gestapo for escaped prisoners of war and enemy agents.
In 1974, scenes from the Charles Bronson film Breakout were filmed at the Fort. The filmmakers were portraying an actual helicopter prison escape similar to one that occurred in Mexico in 1971.
The fort is open to the public between June and September only and includes exhibits on the history of the fort, its archaeology and the surrounding area. As a property of the state, it has been listed since 1967 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Text adapted from “Fort de Bellegarde” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fort de Bellegarde ranks #2,263 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #172 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded c. 1650, it is older than 25% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 708 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,867 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. 9 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Perpignan, 27 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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