Cordon of fortresses - a photo on Flickriver

            Fort du Petit Bé at low tide, seen from the city walls, Saint-Malo, Brittany, France

Some background information:

Fort du Petit Bé is a fort on the tidal island of Petit Bé, close to the larger island of Grand Bé. It is located on the coastline of the city of Saint-Malo in the Breton department of Ille-et-Vilaine, just outside the city walls, facing the English Channel. At low tide one can walk to the island from the nearby Plage de Bon-Secours (in English: "Beach of the Great Relaxation").

Fort du Petit Bé is part of a cordon of six fortresses, which used to protect the city’s sea side from the 17th to the 19th century. Today there are four fortresses left: Fort National, Fort Harbourg, Fort de la Conchée and Fort du Petit Bé as shown here. The other two, Fort de Cézembre and Fort de la pointe de la Varde have been destroyed.

Already in 1667, the French government had built a small fort on the island of Petit Bé. In 1689, construction of the present fort began. The fort was part of the defenses designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban to protect Saint-Malo from British and Dutch fleets. The defensive works included the walls of Saint Malo as well as six forts outside the walls situated on isles at the shore.

At the time of the British attack on Saint-Malo in 1693, the fort was still under construction. But when an Anglo-Dutch force attacked Saint-Malo again in 1695, the fort already helped repel the attack.

Fort du Petit Bé consists of a horseshoe-shaped battery on the seaward side that has 19 embrasures for guns. In 1695 it held nine guns. But just two years later it was armed with 15 guns, including four 48-pounders and six 36-pounders, as well as two mortars. A garrison of 177 men manned the fort and served its guns. 

On the landward side the fort consisted of two half-bastions that flank the entrance, which sits a few metres above the level of the rocks. The bastions are loopholed for muskets to enable the defenders to resist attempts to scale the defences. Several different plans were advanced for a demi-lune outwork in front of the entrance but in the end none was built. Cross-fire from Petit Bé and Fort Harbourg protected the estuary of the river Rance. The fort was finally finished in 1707, the year of Vauban’s death.

The French army occupied the fort until 1885. Later, the army turned the fort over to the city of Saint-Malo. It became a Monument historique in 1921, but was neglected until 2000, when the city gave it to a non-profit organization rent-free to restore it and prepare it for tourism. Brush was removed from the embrasures, some of which received period cannons. Furthermore the cistern was emptied of garbage and again retains storm water now, fed into it from the roof of the barracks building.

Saint-Malo is a walled port city in the Breton department of Ille-et-Vilaine in northwestern France on the English Channel. Saint-Malo’s city proper has a population of 45,000, which can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season.  With the suburbs included, the town’s population is approximately 153,000. In the past Saint-Malo was notorious for privateering. Today the city is a major tourist destination, with many ancient and attractive buildings.

Taken in: France / Bretagne / St.-Malo (show map)

Taken on: September 3, 2016

Tags:

Europe

Frankreich

Brittany

Bretagne

Saint-Malo

Ille-et-Vilaine

Petit Bé

Fort du Petit Bé

fort

defence works

fortification

Verteidigungsanlage

fortress

Festung

citadel

Zitadelle

rock

rocks

coastal rock

Felsen

coast

Küste

coastline

shoreline

Küstenlinie

shore

seashore

seaside

sea

Meer

ocean

Ozean

Channel

English Channel

Ärmelkanal

German Sea

North Sea

Nordsee

seaport

harbour town

harbor town

Hafenstadt

city

town

Stadt

cliffs

Klippen

water

Wasser

low tide

Ebbe

island

tidal island

Gezeiteninsel

Vauban

flag

drapeau

Flagge

Fahne

sky

Himmel

clouds

Wolken

partly cloudy

teilweise bewölkt

summer

Sommer

September

2016 « less

Sets appears in: • France: Basse-Normandie, Brittany and Reims 2016 • Buildings - France more » • Seasides « less

Groups appears in: • France • France image more » • Beside the seaside, besides the sea ... • Palaces, Castles, Towers, Pagodas, Fortresses And Ruins of Old • European Vacation • Brittany (French) • Regions of France / La France des Régions • Bretagne • * Images de France * (France-Corse-DOM-TOM-COM) • Bretagne* • "History & Antiquities (Post 5 - Award 3)" • Historical and architectural gems • Baugeschichte "History of Architecture" • Strictly GeoTagged (no 30/60 limit) • The concept is Europe • buildings are beautiful « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/5.0, 1/500 sec, 46.5mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Lens:	5.0-100.0 mm
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	46.5mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Portrait
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 1,814 views / 7 comments

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: