Fort Lagarde
The Fort Lagarde is a fortification of the 17th century above the village of Prats-de-Mollo in the French department of Pyrenees-Orientales . It is 60 kilometers from Perpignan and 13 kilometers from the Spanish border. The main task was the protection of Prats-de-Molló and the guarding of the pass leading from Spain to France at the Col d'Ares. This is a perfect example of the bastionary system implementation .
Prats-de-Molló is the capital of the upper Vallespir valley and has been an important strategic point since 1659 when the Comté de Roussillon (County of Roussillon) was annexed to France. The town was fortified on the orders of Louis XIV by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban , who was also responsible for the construction of Fort Lagarde.
Fort Lagarde has been on the list of historical monuments (Monuments historique) since 1925.
history
Since the 13th century, the village of Prats-de-Molló was divided into a northern and southern half by the river Tech . In the northern part was the castle of the Counts of Bésalu.
In 1307 the King of Aragon built a watch and signal tower above the village at a height of 1540 meters, which was named "Lagardia". Military news was passed through this tower, which happened to fire at night and smoke signals during the day. It was related to the “Tour d'En Mir” and the “Tour de Cos”. The latter stood between Le Tech and Montferrer .
After the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659, Vallespir, the county of Roussillon, and part of the Cerdagne had to be ceded to France. Prats-de-Mollo became a border town.
Above the fortified site, the “Tour de la Guardia” was converted into Fort Lagarde to monitor the new border and the entrance to the upper Villespir valley. It was a donjon , the original watchtower was extended by an extension and the whole thing was surrounded by a star-shaped wall.
In 1663 and 1672 the residents of Vallespir and Conflent revolted under Josep de la Trinxeria against the salt tax called "Gabelle", which had been levied since 1291. It takes two attempts by royal troops to restore order. During the siege of the place in 1670, the Château de Perella (or | Périlloux), the former, medieval castle of the Counts of Bésalu, was reinforced with artillery and garrisoned with a hundred men to keep its inhabitants in check. This facility was abandoned and demolished six years later in favor of today's fort.
In the Dutch War (1672–1678) the fortification was taken by the Spaniards in 1674, but was recaptured the following year by an army under Count Friedrich von Schomberg .
In 1677 the facility was then extensively reinforced. Responsible for this was Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban , the fortress builder (Commissaire général des fortifications) of the French King Louis XIV. At the same time, other fortifications in the region ( Fort de Bellegarde , the Château de Collioure, Mont-Louis and others) were expanded. The fortification plans by Christian Rousselot de Monceaux and Vauban from 1679 also included the municipality of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. Under the supervision of Vauban, the core plant was completed in 1686.
The engineer Rousselot, responsible for the fortifications in the province of Roussillon, expanded Vauban's plans in 1691 with the approval of the king. The expansion measures were, however, interrupted by another war and a lack of financial resources. Construction work continued in the first half of the 18th century and was not completed until the second half of the 19th century.
War of Roussillon
After the French National Convention declared war on Spain on March 7, 1793, a Spanish army moved north across the border on April 17, 1793 to protect the inhabitants of the region and the refugees who were staying there. General Ricardos moved through the Vallespir region and occupied the village of Prats de Mollo on May 23, 1793. On June 5th, Fort Lagarde was forced to surrender and occupied. Then the Spaniards moved on in the valley and took Bellegarde on June 25th. In 1794 both fortresses were recaptured by the troops of Général (German: General ) Jacques François Dugommier .
In 1926 the building was given up as a military property. In 1976 the community bought the fort and has been restoring it ever since.
Building
For the reasons outlined in the previous section, Vauban's plans were not fully implemented. In the center of the star-shaped core work is the round, former watchtower with the extension. On the southern front there are two lines in front of the core works, the Contregarde with a Fausse Braie and the St. Marguerite bastion; the wall is higher from the bastion to the east than on the western side due to the terrain. The northern and eastern fronts are designed to be weaker. The Eastern Front also has an advanced defense system made of earth walls. A horn factory, in which there is a building, was added to the core factory in a south-easterly direction. Various types of stone, granite from the “Massif du Costabonne”, slate, but also bricks (and probably stones from the broken castle of Bésalu) were used as building material. All materials had to be brought up as a man or with mules via the narrow access path. A covered path has led over 142 steps to a reduction since the 18th century. This forward post is called the "Tour Carrée". There is another covered path between the city and the fort, which ensured the connection in the event of a blockade.
commander
- 1830-1848: Jean-Louis Boyer
Footnotes
- ↑ Entry no. PA00104101 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
literature
- Alain Ayats, Louis XIV et les Pyrénées catalanes (1659–1681) - Frontière politique et frontières militaires , éditions Trabucaïre, 2002
Web links
Coordinates: 42 ° 24 ′ 26 " N , 2 ° 28 ′ 53" E