Explore the historic highlights of Riga
Riga, Latvia
13th century
Riga, Latvia
ca. 1334
Riga, Latvia
1209
Riga, Latvia
1695
Riga, Latvia
1971
Riga, Latvia
1384
Riga, Latvia
1211
Riga, Latvia
13th century
Riga, Latvia
1225
Riga, Latvia
1987
Riga, Latvia
1727-1733
Riga, Latvia
1916
Riga, Latvia
14th century
Riga, Latvia
1931-1935
Riga, Latvia
1857-1859
Riga, Latvia
1497-1515
Riga, Latvia
1876-1883
Riga, Latvia
1899-1902
Riga, Latvia
1863
Riga, Latvia
1951-1961
Riga, Latvia
1920
Riga, Latvia
1818
Riga, Latvia
1869
Riga, Latvia
1989
Riga, Latvia
1820-1825
Riga, Latvia
1893
Riga, Latvia
2001
Riga, Latvia
1760-1814
Riga, Latvia
1891
Riga, Latvia
1941
Riga, Latvia
1773
Riga, Latvia
1680
The historical centre of Briançon is a strongly fortified town, built by Vauban to defend the region from Austrians in the 17th century. Its streets are very steep and narrow, though picturesque. Briançon lies at the foot of the descent from the Col de Montgenèvre, giving access to Turin, so a great number of other fortifications have been constructed on the surrounding heights, especially towards the east.
The Savoyards made two raids into French territory in 1691 and 1692. As a result, Vauban was dispatched to inspect the frontier defences, which had been ill-equiped to deal with the attack from Savoy. He returned to the area in 1700 to check on the progress that had been made since his first visit. When Vauban visited Briançon, work on the defences had already started under a local engineer, Monsieur d"Angrogne in 1692.