The Vauban citadel, overlooking Seyne, bears witness to the history of the valley since the 17th century. Already equipped with medieval fortifications, the city which then bordered Savoy was deemed insufficiently protected by Vauban, the great engineer and military architect of Louis XIV.
In 1691, Vauban erected a citadel which followed the crest of a rocky spur and thus dominated the ramparts and bastions which had been reinforced. Narrow and elongated in shape, the citadel is in fact adapted to the particular relief of the land and includes a 12th century tower inherited from military works from the Middle Ages. Protecting the small city located at its feet, the citadel, remodeled in the 18th century, lost its strategic interest in the following century and, threatening ruin, ended up being bought by the city during the 20th century.
You will discover genuine cannons, the impressive period cistern with its stalactites, the old bread oven, films, and exhibitions on the history of Seyne and its fortress.
The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.