The
Marshal Vauban WebsiteThe
Marshal Vauban WebsiteMaintained by : Chris Jones of Altofts, Wakefield, U.K. © September 1997
This page last updated : 22 March 1998
For details of this institution visit their official web site
- which is also listed on the "Links" page of the Marshal Vauban Website .
The museum of plans-reliefs is one of the hidden gems of Paris. In the days before contours were shown on maps the only way to effectively render geographic features was with scale-models. To this end, and beginning in 1668, Michel Le Tellier Marquis de Louvois - one of King Louis XIV's most senior ministers - arranged for the construction of a massive collection of relief plans depicting all the major fortified towns & places of France.
These top secret models [and some of them are HUGE!] were originally housed in the Louvre Palace but were transferred in 1776 to the Hotel National des Invalides, where they can be seen today. Those that remain [actually a number of them were taken to Berlin as war booty in 1814 and then subsequently lost in air-raids during WWII] are displayed with the benefit of modern lighting techniques and are a truly incerdible sight to behold.
Indeed, the amazing plan-relief of Briançon benefits from a complete light & sound show. The museum is just one part of a larger colection within Les Invalides - which spans ten centuries and more of French martial history - although I understand there are plans to move the collection to another site - we must wait and see!
Above: the dome of Les Invalides the Church attached to the Invaides complex built by Louis XIV for the injured veterans of his army. It is the French equivalent of the Chelsea Pensioners building in London and dates from around the same time. It's buildings still house some of the veterans [invalids and paraplegics] from the modern day French Army.
This
fine group, formed in September 1980, are extremely active in preserving
Vauban's memory. They maintain a splendid little museum in his
very modest home town of St-Leger-Vauban - which is in the Morvan, a rugged and wooded region
some 3 or 4 hours drive south-east of Paris [on today's motorways!]. Here they have gathered
together a comprehensive archive of Vauban's writings, copies of which are on view
to the visitor. There is also a very well presented and informative audio-visual
presentation depicting Vauban's life and works [headphones available for English
and German speaking visitors].
The Vauban museum also has a very well stocked little book shop. It's contents display the other chief fruit of this organisation's labour - a fine series of booklets that record, region by region, Vauban's work to strengthen France's defences. These are listed in the Recommended Reading List page of the Marshal Vauban Website.
The museum is open from 10am to 1pm and from 3pm to 5pm each day from 1 May to 15 September [1997] Outside these dates please telephone to check on opening times. Entry is 10FF for adults & 5.00FF for children under 15 years of age.
The Association has a range of membership options and is no doubt
delighted to receive donations to help with the cost of it's projects.
They can be contacted at the following address ...
Tel: 03 86 32 26 30 [Please note this number does not include international dialing codes]
Based
in the town of Briançon in the French Alps, the Association is concerned
with generating interest in & preserving in the town's military
heritage - it's very extensive & formidable fortifications.
In addition to the town's own imposing walls and citadel [built by Vauban], the surrounding
mountains are massively fortified with numerous works extending from Vauban's
time right up to the Maginot defences of the 1930's.
The Association produces a bi-monthly publication - L'Échauguette - which includes fortification studies & liaison [news] items. Basic membership starts at 100FF per annum. They can be contacted at...
40. av. de la Libération. 05100 Briançon. France.
This organisation has been going for a number
of years and has published several fine booklets in the past. It's membership
boasts some respected authors, including the former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage Andrew Saunders.
They have their own web site which carries details of their activities and how one goes about joining etc.
The address is The Fortress Study Group
The Netherlands Fortification Museum - Naarden
The town of Naarden was formerly capital of the Gooi province. It's fortress was an intrisic part of the 17thC Hollandse Waterlinie [Water Defence Line].
Holland's National Fortress Museum is sited in one of the town's bastions. The very impressive fortress has survived largely intact down to the present day. The museum
is the only place from where you can gain complete access to the whole of the defended site.
