Saint-Tropez Citadel, Saint-Tropez, France

In 1589, Maréchal de Villars supervised the construction of a small fort on the hill known as 'colline des Moulins' overlooking Saint-Tropez. This fort was destroyed in 1595, but the military engineer Raymond de Bonnefons chose the same site to build further defensive structures from the start of the 17th century.

The hexagonal tower, which formed an essential part of the village's defence system, was erected between 1602 and 1607. The Citadel underwent numerous modifications over the centuries, before falling into disuse in the 19th century, when the strategic interest of this perfectly-preserved fortress finally diminished.

The old cannons are still in place facing out towards to sea, and the views from the top are stunning across the Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

Bought up by the town in 1993 and made a listed monument, today it hosts a museum dedicated to the history of Saint Tropez and its relationship with the sea.

References:

See Saint-Tropez

Castles and fortifications in France

User Reviews

Eva Frigren (2 years ago)
Interesting museum about the maritime history of St Tropez and what a view of the bay.

Ludy (2 years ago)
Amazin view on the see.. entry just 3 Euro.

Evangeline Evangelista (2 years ago)
A great interesting museum which has lots of information about the story of the city. Its worth to visit.

Eric TREU (2 years ago)
A must see in st tropez, one of the best naval museum I have seen. Very well done and thorough. Only 3 euros.

Hammond Pearce (3 years ago)
Very interesting museum and old fortress. Would definitely recommend a visit to anyone in the area. It also had English translations available within it, which as a bogon I really appreciated.

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German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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