The Citadel

In the 16th century, France was at war with Europe. The development of artillery and the siege of Charles V's troops in 1536 showed the inadequacy of Entrevaux's ancient medieval fortifications

Louis XIV entrusted Vauban with the creation of a fortified line of which Entrevaux was a part, thus locking the access to the middle of Provence.

Access :
The communication path from the town to the castle, whose 9 zig-zag ramps cut through the Entrevaux rock in such a characteristic way, was built on Vauban's orders from 1693. Before his intervention, the Citadel could only be reached by leaving the town, via the mountain, which made communication impossible for men and animals in the event of a siege.

The powder magazine (on the left after the entrance)
Now transformed into a museum retracing the "military" history of Entrevaux, its 58m2 could once hold 9,000 kg of gunpowder. This is far too much for the square of Entrevaux and extremely dangerous.

The Path
The path starts in front of the powder magazine, the 2nd and 3rd ramps lead to the 2 "forts" called Fort Langrune and Fort Pandol, named after their builder. The "grande rampe" and the following ramps offer beautiful views over the territory of Entrevaux. At the end of the last ramp, the entrance to the castle is guarded by a small redoubt with a drawbridge dating from 1693.

On the right are the solitary confinement cells built during the First World War for the recalcitrant prisoners of the disciplinary companies from 1917 to 1922.

The emergency gate (at the rear), with its guardhouse, communicates with the countryside via a drawbridge and a standing bridge over an impressive moat. This was also created by Vauban, as the medieval city only had one entrance accessible by a ladder!

An underground access dug under the citadel connects 2 sides and could protect the garrison in case of bombardment.

To the left of the last ramp, you go up to the entrance of the castle. This includes 3 barracks, a bakery and the commander's house, also called the keep because it is situated at the highest point. Large cellars and 3 cisterns gave the castle a resistance capacity of several months in case of siege.

Today, the ensemble is more or less in the same state as when Vauban discovered it around 1700, as the major transformations he envisaged were never carried out.