Fort of Beauregard (Besançon)



The Fort of Beauregard is a fortification located in the French city of Besançon.

History
After two wars (in 1674 when Louis XIV of France took the city from the Spanish, and in 1814 when Austria declared war on Napoleon I), the French military decided to build a fort on Bregille hill, to defend the old city of Besançon. This hill is higher than the principal fortification of the city, the citadel of Besançon. Because the hill's strategic position had been used against the city in the past, the necessity for a real military defense there had become evident, and so the fort was built. The first fort on the site was built in 1791; it was captured in 1814 during the Six Days' Campaign. To improve the defences, Jacob François Marulaz built the first polygonal fort in France on the site in 1870. Later, the fort was abandoned and transformed into a public garden.