Clinging to a rocky peak or occupying a strategic defensive position, these citadels revealing an unequaled architectural genius tell us the story of France.
Masterpieces of medieval architecture, witnesses to the military genius of Vauban or alterations signed by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, the history of France has bequeathed to us spectacular citadels, jewels of our heritage.
Fortifications, citadels or strongholds, these sites can be read like history books and reveal their glorious past to us. Starting with the Citadel of Carcassonne, one of the most imposing fortified cities in Europe, a masterpiece listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by Peyrepertuse, this Cathar fortress built on a limestone ridge in the Corbières or by Corte, seat of the viceroy’s power.
Impossible to evoke the citadels and fortifications which mark out our territory without evoking Sebastien Le Prestre by Vauban. We owe this engineer, military architect, urban planner, appointed Marshal of France by Louis XIV, the construction or the reorganization of some 180 fortresses. His name will even be given to a type of military architecture: the Vauban system. Twelve sites signed by Vauban in Arras, Besançon, Blaye, Briançon, Camaret-sur-mer, Longwy, Mont-Dauphin, Mont-Louis, Neuf-Brisach, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and Villefranche-de-Conflent is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.