Fort Liberia

Fort Libéria is a former military installation in the French commune of Villefranche-de-Conflent in the department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, at the confluence of the rivers Têt, Rotjà, and Cady. Constructed to defend the newly acquired territory of the Roussillon following the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), it was designed by Louis XIV's military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban on a hill above the village of Villefranche-de-Conflent. The fort was occupied by a garrison of 100 people and their officers, and equipped with ten cannons. It was only attacked once, and lost its military function in the 19th century.

It also functioned as a prison: two of the women accused in the Affair of the Poisons were locked up in the fort in 1682 by order of Louis XIV, and died there after being imprisoned for decades. By 1927 the fort was sold, and for a while served as a retirement home for sailors. In 1984 it was sold to a group of local businessmen, and as of 1987, it is accessible to visitors. The fort, and the 734-step long underground staircase leading to it, is classified by the French state as a monument historique, and it is also listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Text adapted from “Fort Libéria” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Liberia ranks #2,649 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #204 of the 524 mapped in France. Founded 1681, it is older than 24% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 626 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,000 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Perpignan, 45 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗