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Fortifications of Vauban
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How it came to be
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707) was a military engineer in the service of Louis XIV. The World Heritage property gathers 12 groups of his works along France's western, northern and eastern borders: citadels, bastioned town walls, towers, mountain and sea forts, and towns he designed from scratch.
The citadel of Arras was built in 1667-1672 and that of Besançon in 1668-1683; Vauban returned to Besançon 17 times between 1674 and 1703 to oversee the work. Neuf-Brisach, built from nothing near the German border in 1698-1703, is one of his last works and the only example of his third system, with a double town wall.
His models were copied across Europe and the Americas, and his influence on fortification lasted until the mid-19th century. The city of Besançon began exploring a nomination in 2003, and 12 of the 14 sites chosen from about 150 surviving fortifications were inscribed on 7 July 2008.
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