Fort de la Motte-Giron: A Detached Fort Protecting Dijon
Site at a Glance
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- France
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page13 sections
History
Fort de la Motte-Giron is a detached fort in France on the western edge of Dijon, built by the French military between 1874 and 1876 as part of the Séré de Rivières system, a national network of forts, redoubts, and batteries created after the Franco-Prussian War to protect important cities and routes. It formed part of the ring of defenses around Dijon and was intended to control the Ouche valley, resist an advance toward the city, and fire on Dijon-Ville station.
Construction after the Franco-Prussian War
The German Army reached and occupied Dijon during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, a conflict that ended with France’s defeat and the loss of Alsace and part of Lorraine. France subsequently decided to reinforce its fortifications. A committee was established in July 1872, with General Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières as secretary, and Dijon was designated a second-line fortified place within the proposed national system.
In 1874, the Chamber of Deputies approved funding for the defenses. Eight fortified positions were then begun around Dijon, comprising six forts, one redoubt, and one central fortified position known as a réduit. The state acquired the land for Motte-Giron from Bathilde Moreau, widow of the Parisian lawyer Louis Honoré. Construction employed approximately 1,500 workers between January 1875 and September 1876.
Motte-Giron was designed to work with the Mont-Afrique réduit to the south and Fort d’Hauteville to the north. Its role extended beyond that of a detached fort. It was also planned as a fort d’arrêt, or final redoubt of resistance, while its elevated position allowed it to oversee the Ouche valley and the routes running through it.
The brief name Fort Roussin
On 21 January 1887, War Minister Georges Boulanger issued a decree renaming French forts, batteries, and barracks after former military commanders. Motte-Giron was briefly renamed Fort Roussin in honor of Albin Roussin, a Dijon-born naval officer who became vice admiral in 1831, admiral in 1840, and Minister of the Navy in 1840 and 1843.
Boulanger’s decree was revoked on 13 October 1887 by his successor, Théophile Ferron. The fort consequently resumed the name Fort de la Motte-Giron.
Reduced military role and wartime detention
In 1901, Séré de Rivières forts that had not been modernized were placed in the third category, a classification associated with reduced garrisons and armament. During the French mobilization of 1914, Motte-Giron was held by half a company of the 58th Territorial Infantry Regiment, a reserve-stage company, and 82 artillerymen. Its armament consisted of two 120 mm guns and six 90 mm guns, while the annex battery was unarmed.
In 1915, the fort’s guns and ammunition were ordered to the front. Motte-Giron then served as a training center and, from August 1917, as a detention camp for captured German officers. During the interwar period, its use was limited to that of a military depot.
German forces used the fort as a prison for French civilians from June 1940 until August 1944. Some of those detained were later deported. From October 1944 to March 1948, the fort became a transit center for German prisoners of war. It subsequently served as a French Air Force communications center, was decommissioned in 1954, and later became a training ground for the 27th Infantry Regiment.
Municipal ownership and protection
The municipality of Dijon purchased the fort in 2002 and began small restoration projects, particularly from 2014 onward. Solognot sheep now graze in the ditches. A prefectural order dated 5 May 2006 listed Fort de la Motte-Giron as a historic monument.
Remains
Layout and construction
The fort occupies the small Bel Air plateau, whose summit reaches 412 metres above sea level, between the Combe à la Serpent and Combe Persil. Its ditches form an irregular pentagon that is almost rectangular in shape and enclose approximately 4.2 hectares. Stone masonry, covered by a thick layer of earth, forms the principal construction. The vaulted barracks stand at the center around a small rectangular courtyard, with shelter traverses and gun platforms arranged around them.
Central barracks
The central barracks are vaulted and organized around the rectangular courtyard. Their position provides the core of the fort, while the surrounding traverses offered protected areas associated with the artillery platforms. The earth covering over the masonry formed part of the fort’s protective construction.
Ditches and caponiers
Three simple caponiers and one double caponier defended the ditches. A caponier is a projecting defensive structure from which troops could fire along a ditch. These elements were integrated into the irregular perimeter and provided flanking fire against attackers approaching the fort’s outer defenses.
Artillery and strategic outlook
Ramparts and gun platforms
The fort’s original establishment provided a garrison of 540 soldiers and included 26 rampart guns, 10 mortars, and 10 flanking pieces. The planned establishment for 1900 listed 453 men. The gun platforms were positioned to cover the approaches through the Ouche valley and the transport routes passing below the plateau.
Annex battery
An annex battery was built at the western end of the hill. By 1914, it was no longer armed. The fort’s wider field of fire reached the enclosed Ouche valley, where the Burgundy Canal, National Road 5, and the Paris-Lyon railway line ran. National Road 5 has since been covered by the A38 motorway. The artillery could also reach Dijon-Ville station.
Uncompleted modernization
Modernization proposals associated with the 1900 program were not carried out, and the complementary 1908 program was also not implemented. The fort therefore continued to reflect the organization of its late nineteenth-century construction, with earth-covered masonry, vaulted barracks, ditches, caponiers, traverses, and open gun platforms forming its principal defensive elements.
