Fort de Beauregard

En un regard

Le château en bref

Fort Beauregard (or Beauregard Fort) is a fortification in Besançon, built between 1791 and 1870. Erected on the summit of a secondary spur of the Mont de Brégille known as Mandelier, and later Beauregard, the site was of strategic importance, particularly from the siege of Besançon in 1674, which pitted the Kingdom of France against the Dutch Republic and the Catholic Monarchy of Spain. A work was built at the end of the eighteenth century, but it was not until 1814, and the events of the Campagne de France, that military strategists, led by General Marulaz, truly took charge of erecting a proper fort. From the outset, the building had the distinctive feature of incorporating a polygonal system, which made it the first, or one of the first, of its kind in France. Its principal mission was to support the Fort de Bregille, then the city's central magazine, and to defend the eastern lines of Besançon's historic centre. After numerous modifications, Fort de Beauregard was finally completed in 1870, just as the Franco-Prussian War broke out. However, the Comtois capital was only subjected to a blockade; the fort then saw no action during the First or Second World War either. Like many other forts in the city, Beauregard, now obsolete, was gradually abandoned. As a result, numerous architectural elements have deteriorated through the wear of time.