Ramparts of Antibes

En un regard

Le château en bref

The ramparts of Antibes form the fortified enclosure that protected the old town of Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) from the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century. Fortifications already existed in the Greek and then Roman periods on the site of ancient Antipolis, before the medieval walls, pierced by several gates, were built. The enclosure was thoroughly reworked from the 16th century onwards: the walls were raised and the Saint-Laurent tower was built in the middle of the century, followed by the construction of bastions on the landward side in the early 17th century by Raymond and then Jean de Bonnefons. At the end of the 17th century, Vauban had the ditches deepened, the ramparts doubled and the curtain walls reinforced with ravelins and cavaliers, works directed by the engineer Honoré Allègre. The sea front, the harbour front with the Marine bastion, and the bastioned land front formed the three main components of the fortress. Declassified as a military stronghold in 1889, the enclosure was largely dismantled from 1895, with the exception of the sea front, which was kept for reasons of geotechnical stability. Some surviving elements, such as the pediment of the Porte de la Marine and the ramparts of Fort Saint-André, are protected as historic monuments.