Fort de Bron

The fort du Bron is a fortification built between 1875 and 1877. Located on the territory of the commune of Source. It is part of the second belt of fortifications around Lyon including VANCAR, Fort de Feyzin  and  Fort du Mont Verdun.

History
Its history is linked to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Indeed, as a result of Treaty of Frankfurt  which ended the war  1870, France lost the Alsace  and also  Lorraine, reducing its borders. To ensure the best defense of Lyon, it was decided to build a strong cordon of forts encircling the city to the east, which included the forts of Bron, of  VANCAR,   Feyzin  and  Mont Verdun. These forts were equipped with significant amounts of artillery with all the hardware, staff, and powder storage that this then entailed.

When a defensive reorganization occurred in France in 1874, the commune of Source was therefore included in the crown of detached forts, to protect the stronghold of Lyon.

From 1875 to 1885, the following was built successively around the town  : Fort Bron is the only one remaining, built 1875 to 1877.
 * Fort Bron, placed on the hill above the Rhone valley to Saint-Priest;
 * the batteries Lessivas and Parilly ;
 * a walled enclosure with four bastions protecting the roads to Grenoble.

Fort Bron was completed with two annexed batteries Lessivas and Parilly. But the advances in artillery quickly made these forts, and therefore that of Source, ineffective, inadequate and unable to defend Lyon.

In addition World War I did not take place in this region, so this fort was then only used as a barracks and to warehouse equipment. During the Second World War the Germans used it as a prison. The French army used it until 1962 as an annex of the air base until its decommissioning in 1963.

Role
The establishment of this fort allowed the City of Lyon to protect itself from enemy attacks from the east, dominating the surrounding plain, the fort covered Décines, Chassieu and Saint-Priest.

Location
The fort is located at shooting distance by antique cannon from Lyon (or 7 to 8   km ), to 212   meters above sea level on a hill called Source.

Composition
This polygonal structure is surrounded by a deep ditch approximately 6 to 8   meters to 12  to 14   meters wide, the ditch being defended by caponiers.

The different buildings (some being buried under a mass of earth) that make up the 1 500 m² of the estate, can accommodate 841 men in war.

The bridge that allows access to the rear entrance of the fort is unique: it is retractable sideways, sliding on steel rollers.

Land and zones
A judgment of expropriation dating from 10 June 1874 releases 24 He ctares for the construction of the fort. Like other forts, military land was bounded by stone posts located around it, their hats on an engraving showing the direction of the next point.

Armament
The fort, whose cannons can reach targets located 6 km away (with an extended range up to 8 km, in 1880, with Bange guns), was equipped with  : a total of 45 pieces of artillery.
 * 17 guns on the cavalier,
 * 13 guns on the lower enclosure,
 * 10 light guns for defense ditches,
 * 5 mortars,

Garrison and housing
841 people were housed in wartime   : Ten horses is also present on site.
 * 1 commander of the fort,
 * 17 officers,
 * 39 NCOs,
 * 784 soldiers.

Officers and NCOs were housed in the second floor barracks, upstairs. The rest of the men occupied the first floor of the barracks at a rate of 56 soldiers to a room.

The fort was also equipped with two kitchens, a bakery, a well, a cistern, latrines, a forge and shops. Disciplinary premises are also placed in the center of the fort, including a guard room and four cells.
 * The bakery required 69,400 kg flour in reserve.
 * A pump drew drinking water 37  meters into the water table at a rate of 50   m* 3  per day, also feeding a tank containing 13   m* 3  . This was intended to provide water in the event of pump failure during three days.
 * Lighting was by kerosene lamps, candles and skylights.

Construction
The order is given 8 May 1874 by the General Cissey, from Ministry of War to begin construction of the Fort of Bron.

The carved stone comes from Monts d'Or and from Trept.

The construction began soon from 1875 until 1877 for a total cost of 3,014,578 francs  :
 * 760,000 francs 1875,
 * 1,230,000 francs 1876,
 * 745,000 francs 1877,
 * 19,000 francs 1878,
 * 260,578 francs for the acquisition costs.

Today
The city of Grand Lyon  bought the fort in  1975  to build two water tanks, occupying 50% of the built area of the fort and  300 metres of a South divide as a  spillway for security. On 23 September 1976 at the Extra-Municipal Planning Commission (CEMU), the  COURLY  proposed to transform the ditches to public landfill, to abandon the rubble, and to finally abort the project. The army still retained 6 hectares of woodland (including some of ditches and the Diamond gap) in order to build an extension of the School of health of the armies of Lyon-Bron. Several attempts to negotiate with the army to retain all the fort intact failed, so an agreement was signed between the mayor of Bron André Sousi  and the  Prime Minister  Raymond Barre, proposing the purchase of the land in issue ( 9,878   m² ) by the municipality at the price of  10   francs per m², at 98 780   francs.

The purchase allowed the creation in 1983 of a fitness trail around the fort.

Fort Bron welcomes every two years a theatrical event  : the Biennial Fort Bron ; for two months, a theater company takes possession of the premises. In 2009, The Odyssey of Homer drew nearly 17,000 spectators 15,000 in 2011.

Fort Bron is managed by an association created March 25, 1982, which organizes free tours on the first Sunday of each month. The association also participates in Heritage Days and organizes a craft exhibition in early October. A museum has also been built there.

The museum Société Lyonnaise History of Aviation and Aerospace Documentation is installed in three rooms of the barracks on the second floor.

The fort is also used as a filming location for video clips, movie scenes or interviews. The TV movie The gate of heaven by Denys Granier-Deferre, broadcast 1993,  and Under guard, the TV movie Luc Beraud, broadcast in 2002, and the short films  Masquerade from Nicolas Brossette, broadcast 2007, and The décarquilleurs'' from Jean-Paul Lebesson were partly shot at the fort.