Halfway between the Oleron and Aix islands, Fort
Boyard is built on a sandbank which partially appears
clearly at low tides and spring tides. Initially
constructed to control access to the Aix Island Harbor,
it has now become a TV star...
To protect the Arsenal of Rochefort
As soon as Colbert created the Arsenal in Rochefort in 1666, the
Engineer Clerville - building supervisor for all the
Kingdom's fortifications - recommended that a fort be
erected on the Boyard site to protect access to the Aix
Island Harbor. Vauban would disagree : 'Sir, it would be
easier to grip the moon with the teeth than to attempt
such an enterprise on such a location". In 1763,
after the disembarkment of the English enemy on the Aix
Island and the Seven Year War that followed, the project
of Fort Boyard was brought up again, only to be discarded
again for its technical dificulties.
Bonaparte breaks ground
In June 1801 a commission of experts from the Engineering,
the Civil Enginering and the Marine departments gave its
report on the Fort Boyard and the Fort Enet projects. On
February 4th, 1803, the Boyard project was approved by
the First Consul Bonaparte.
A battle against the ocean
Construction started in1804 with the necessary
foundations five meters below water level. In 1807, the
first footings installed proved to be sinking in the sand
and the violentstorms in the 1807-1808 winter destroyed
them almost entirely. In 1808, Napoleon decided to cut
the project in half so as to keep the cost down. In 1809,
construction stopped due to various difficulties - the
sea and the English. 7500 cubic meters of stone which had
been poured for a total cost of 3.5 million francs.
Victory!
In 1840, during Louis Philippe's ruling, a new burst of
tension between the French and the English sparked off a
decisive restart of the project. The foundations had
stabilized and new techniques had appeared - concrete
mortars an hydraulic lime. The 1847 and 1848 campaigns
allowed the achievement of the Fort's base for 2.35
million francs. The marine department officially handed
over Engineers the foundations which had now risen to 2
meters above high water level.
The Architecture
The Fort is built in stone and shaped like an elongated
ring. It shelters three levels of blockhouses for cannons
like the 18th century vessels. The warehouses for
supplies, gunpowder and artillery were on the first floor,
next to the kitchens and canteens, the entrance to the
guardroom, a police room, latrines and four sets of
stairs leading up to the floors above.
The vanity of Man
The armament of Fort Boyard was initially planned to
begin in 1859 with seventy four cannons, but by then the
invention of rifles had represented a considerable
evolution in outdated fortifications. In the mid-19th
century, forts built on islands could cross fire and were
sufficient to protect access to the harbor. The need for
Fort Boyard had become obsolete. Therefore the Fort was
never equipped with its initially foreseen seventy four
cannons but instead received only about thirty modernized
models!
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