Fort du Cabellou: A Coastal Defense Fort at Concarneau
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- French, German
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page6 sections
History
Fort du Cabellou is an 18th-century coastal defense fort in Concarneau, France, built in 1746 to protect the entrance to La Forêt Bay. Its design is attributed to Vauban, the French military engineer and marshal whose fortification principles influenced defenses across France. The fort complemented defenses at Beg Meil on the opposite side of the bay.
Coastal Defense in the Eighteenth Century
The fort covered the coastline between Pointe de la Jument and Pointe de Beg Meil. In 1746, four 24-pounder cannons defended the position. About fifty years later, the artillery had been replaced by four 36-pounder cannons, and the fort was served by 24 artillerymen.
Decline and Twentieth-Century Changes
Developments in 19th-century artillery made the fort obsolete, and it was later declassified. During the Second World War, German forces built two blockhouses on the Cabellou peninsula, one of them attached to Fort du Cabellou. The commune of Concarneau has owned the fort since 1960. An order dated 8 November 1962 listed it as a French historic monument.
Remains
Fortifications and Coastal Battery
Fort du Cabellou follows a radiocentric plan, with its coastal batteries arranged in a horseshoe. Two demi-bastions, partial projecting defenses, protect the entrance. Along the sea-facing parapet, six embrasures, openings through which artillery could fire, remain part of the defensive design.
Interior Buildings and Wartime Addition
The fort includes a guardhouse and a powder magazine. The magazine is covered by a stepped stone roof designed to withstand cannon fire. One of the Second World War blockhouses built on the Cabellou peninsula is attached to the fort, linking the 18th-century battery with the later German defenses.
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