Citadelle de Blaye, Blaye
Facts and practical information
The citadel of Blaye is a military complex of 25 hectares built between 1685 and 1689 by the military engineer François Ferry, director general of the fortifications of Guyenne, under the supervision of Vauban. Overlooking the Gironde estuary, it is located in the town of Blaye, in the north of the Gironde department, in France. It forms a vast fortified complex surrounded by curtain walls, completed by four bastions and three half-moons.
The interior is designed as a real barracks articulated around a place of arms, a convent that once housed monks of the Minimes order, and several barracks intended to house the troops. Several elements of the medieval fortifications are preserved in the new complex, among which the castle of the Rudels, the Liverneuf gate or the tower of the Eguillette.
Designed to control navigation on the estuary, the citadel was completed by Fort Paté, on Île Paté, and by Fort Médoc, located on the opposite bank of the Gironde.
It is fully classified as a historical monument on May 11, 2009, it is also one of the twelve sites integrated into the Network of major sites of Vauban and is as such registered on July 7, 2008 on the list of the world heritage of UNESCO. It is classified since December 20, 2010 as a major site of Aquitaine.
Since 1977, the citadel has been the setting for the Jumping International de Blaye which takes place every year in July.
New Aquitaine