Tour Vauban

The Tour Vauban (Vauban Tower), initially known as the tour de Camaret, is an 18m-high polygonal defensive tower built to a plan by Vauban on the Sillon at Camaret-sur-Mer, as part of the fortifications of the goulet de Brest. It has three levels and is flanked by walls, a guardhouse and a gun battery which can hold 11 cannons as well as a cannon-ball foundry added in the French Revolution period.

Drafted in 1683, the tower was designed in 1689 by Vauban and construction was supervised by the military engineer Jean-Pierre Traverse from 1693 to completion in 1696. The 11 cannons in the battery are believed to have been forged with those for the battery on pointe du Grand Gouin, for the Quélern defensive-lines and the many neighbouring batteries. In the French victory in the battle of Camaret on 18 June 1694, the battery and its two guard houses were only armed with nine 24-pounder cannon and three mortars firing 30cm balls.

Camaret-sur-Mer is a member of the network of major Vauban sites. Since 7 July 2008 the tour Vauban and 11 other sites have been classed as a World Heritage Site.

External links

* [http://www4.culture.fr/patrimoines/patrimoine_architectural_et_mobilier/sribzh/main.xsp?execute=show_document&id=MERIMEEIA29001320 Dossiers électroniques de l'Inventaire général, Bretagne. The tour Vauban]
* [http://www4.culture.fr/patrimoines/patrimoine_architectural_et_mobilier/sribzh/main.xsp?execute=show_document&id=MERIMEEIA29001321 Dossiers électroniques de l'Inventaire général, Bretagne. The cannon-ball foundry]