Fort Carré
Encyclopedia
Fort Carré is a 16th-century fort on the outskirts of Antibes
, France
. During the 17th century, the fort was redeveloped by the Marquis de Vauban.
had four bastions added in 1565, whereupon it became Fort Carré (the squared fort). In the 1680's, Vauban strengthened Fort Carré, adding traverses to protect against ricochet fire and exchanging the stone parapets, which were liable to scatter deadly splinters when hit by shot, for brick ones.
Vauban also enlarged the embrasures and added outer walls to the fortification. After Vauban's work, the fort was designed to take eighteen cannon. The entrance to the fort is through a triangular work that protrudes from the walls, which is loopholed and pierced by a heavy wooden door. From here, there is a narrow bridge that leads into the fort itself via the flank of one of the arrow headed bastions. Inside, there are barrack buildings for officers and men as well as the ancient chapel, which has been preserved through the successive stages of military development of the site.
In addition to improving the defences of Fort Carré, Vauban fortified Antibes itself, adding a land front of four arrow-headed bastions around the town, as well as seaward fortifications, including a bastion on the breakwater closing the harbor.
During the French Revolution
, Napoleon Bonaparte was briefly imprisoned here. In July 1794, after the violent overthrow of Robespierre
, General Bonaparte was detained as a Jacobin
sympathizer and held in Fort Carré for ten days. His release was secured by his friend and political ally, Antoine Christophe Saliceti
.
film, Never Say Never Again
.
Antibes
Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. During the 17th century, the fort was redeveloped by the Marquis de Vauban.
History
Fortifications at Antibes were probably first built by the Romans. In 1553, a tower called la tour Saint-Florent was built around a preexisting chapel. Henry IIIHenry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
had four bastions added in 1565, whereupon it became Fort Carré (the squared fort). In the 1680's, Vauban strengthened Fort Carré, adding traverses to protect against ricochet fire and exchanging the stone parapets, which were liable to scatter deadly splinters when hit by shot, for brick ones.
Vauban also enlarged the embrasures and added outer walls to the fortification. After Vauban's work, the fort was designed to take eighteen cannon. The entrance to the fort is through a triangular work that protrudes from the walls, which is loopholed and pierced by a heavy wooden door. From here, there is a narrow bridge that leads into the fort itself via the flank of one of the arrow headed bastions. Inside, there are barrack buildings for officers and men as well as the ancient chapel, which has been preserved through the successive stages of military development of the site.
In addition to improving the defences of Fort Carré, Vauban fortified Antibes itself, adding a land front of four arrow-headed bastions around the town, as well as seaward fortifications, including a bastion on the breakwater closing the harbor.
During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Napoleon Bonaparte was briefly imprisoned here. In July 1794, after the violent overthrow of Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
, General Bonaparte was detained as a Jacobin
Jacobin
Jacobin may refer to:* Jacobin , a member of the Jacobin club, or political radical, generally* The Jacobin Club, a political club during the French Revolution* Jacobin , an American leftist political magazine....
sympathizer and held in Fort Carré for ten days. His release was secured by his friend and political ally, Antoine Christophe Saliceti
Antoine Christophe Saliceti
Antoine Christophe Saliceti was a French politician and diplomat of the Revolution and First Empire.-Early career:...
.
In popular culture
Fort Carré was used as an Arab Fort in the making of the James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film, Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
.