Seyne-les-Alpes



    Situated in the French Alps, the town of Seyne was fortified with a tower around 1220, but successful raids from Savoy in the 1690s encouraged Louis XIV to send Vauban to the Alps to strengthen Seyne and other Alpine defenses.  Niquet, the local engineer, perhaps thinking that the  mountain range between Seyne and the Savoyard Ubaye Valley to the north prevented passage of a strong enemy force, had designed a relatively simple wall to surround the town - with no ditch and no ramparts and unsuitable bastions in Vauban's mind - bastions like those found at nearby Colmars.  This construction began in 1690.  In 1692 Vauban ordered a citadel built that incorporated the medieval tower.  Construction began in 1693, and it was completed in 1699, but when Vauban returned in 1700 he was very unhappy with the result, describing the defenses as, "One of the worst places that I have seen in my life."  The citadel was too narrow and it faced higher ground without a bastioned front toward this high ground so that an enemy could fire along the length of the place.  The construction was poorly done and on shale  Vauban proposed changes to the defenses, but with the Ubaye Valley going to France after the War of Spanish Succession, the fort lost much of its importance, and the changes were not made.  In 1722, there were eleven cannon in the citadel, and in the 1750s part of the tower collapsed.  The fort was in ruins in the 1780s.


 



 

There are remains of the town walls descending the ridge from the citadel.  Note that there is no ditch.  The map at right shows the city walls before the citadel was constructed, which was near "6" and "F", the tower.



 

From the east side, you can see that the citadel sits atop a ridge overlooking town.  The ridge continues higher, however, so the citadel has dominating ground above it, something that Vauban was not happy with.

The Avant Fort is an outwork lower down on the ridge.  If attackers captured the town, they would then face the Avant Fort.






From Higher Ground






A ditch separates the citadel from the Casemate Nord





Avant Fort






Entrance


The entrance to the fort featured a drawbridge leading to the Avant Fort - an outwork facing town.





Avant Fort


The Avant Fort has a recently built ticket office next to the steps leading to the entrance to the main part of the fort.  At left-center behind the bridge is the Louis-Philippe Casemate, the newest addition to the citadel, built in the early 19th century.





Avant Fort Overlooking Town


In the early 1800s, some casemates and loopholes were added to the 17th century design.





Avant Front From Atop the Tenaille






Gate Through Tenaille


Uphill makes entry more difficult for attacker.  Before proceeding up through the passage, we'll go down the steps at left to investigate a 19th century addition.





Louis Philippe Casemate


In the early 19th century, unrest in Italy was cause for concern for France. giving reason to add this casemate overlooking the citadel entrance and the Avant Front.






Traverse

We climbed the steps visible at right-center.  Built along a ridge, the citadel was narrow with dimensions of 25 x 200 meters.  To prevent enemy fire from one side of the citadel hitting troops in the rear, a traverse was built along the length of the fort.  Before we pass through the traverse - the prominent opening at center - we'll look at the cartridge store at left then go to the tenaille on the right side of the panorama 





Cartridge Store


Cool in summer and comfortable in winter, conditions were ideal for the cartridge store.




Above Louis Philippe Casemate

This is the area next to the tenaille built over the Louis Philippe casemate.
 





Powder Magazine


The powder magazine predates the citadel since it was once part of the town walls.





Cistern


Capacity of the cistern was 220,000 liters, and the daily ration was seven liters per day.  This capacity could last for eight months.
 




From Caserne Site


The barracks were designed to house 144 men.  The garrison was less than this - no more than 120 men.





From Tower


The tower is twelve meters high.  Vauban thought that the tower was the best part of the citadel.  The ditch around the tower was filled in and loopholes constructed.





From Tower











Northern Casemate and Passage from Tower


Built in 1827, the casemates cover the citadel walls from a position to their front, separated by a ditch, and connected with an underground passage.  Loopholes within the passage would help contain an enemy that captured the casemate.



Copyright 2015 by John Hamill



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