En un regard
Le château en bref
The Vauban Citadel overlooks the entrance to the Palais harbour on Belle-Île-en-Mer, in the Morbihan department. Developed around an earlier defensive core, it was built as a modern fortress from 1549, then reinforced in the 16th and 17th centuries, notably with the Gondi casemates, before Vauban's works began in 1683. Captured by the British in 1761 during the Seven Years' War, it received new military installations in the 19th century; in 1848, huts were set up on the glacis of Haute-Boulogne to accommodate up to three thousand prisoners. The complex comprises ramparts, bastions, moats, glacis, entrance works, barracks, an arsenal, storehouses, powder magazines and casemates. Bought in 1960 by André and Anna Larquetoux, who restored it over several decades, it long housed a hotel-museum. The Haute-Boulogne wall has been listed as a historic monument since 1994, and the citadel since 2007. Closed for works, it is due to reopen in 2027 as a hotel with a renovated museum.