Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Ramonet Fort, located at the point of Ramonette 500 metres southeast of the Palais sur Belle-Île-en-Mer, is a coastal battery whose current remains date mainly from the 19th century. The first records of a fortification at this site date back to the end of the 17th century, when Vauban, during his passage in 1689, ordered the construction of a battery. It was certified in 1705, equipped with 36-pound guns and 8-pound guns, and re-engineered in the 1770s. Reoccupied during the wars of the Revolution and the Empire, it was then armed with heavy guns and mortar, with infrastructure such as a guard corps and a powder shop.

The battery underwent major modernization between 1860 and 1882 to adapt to the striped artillery. In 1860-1861, a creneled 1846 No. 3 guard corps was built, followed by a shoulder and artillery platforms. In 1882, a reorganization transformed the structure: the loss of the defensive terrace, the partial burial of the reduced one, and the addition of a vaulted shelter for ammunition and staff. The entrance door, dated 1882 and preceded by a drawbridge, is flanked by a ditch and a bastionnet. These developments reflect the topographical challenges of the site, sloping and dominated by the surrounding heights.

In the 20th century, the fort remained in service until the early 1900s, armed with 19 cm guns. During the Second World War, the Germans installed a casemate for machine guns. Sold to an individual in 1954, the battery underwent modifications from the 1960s onwards, resulting in the partial destruction of its structures, including the crushed mass of the guard body and the earthworks of the battery. Today, the kneeling wall, the shelter cross-section, and traces of successive redevelopments remain, demonstrating its strategic role in the defence of Belle-Île.

Historical sources point to the debates surrounding its construction in the 19th century, including the difficulty of reconciling military model plans with the constraints of the terrain. Several projects, including the outright abandonment of the battery, were envisaged before the adoption of a guard body without a terrace in 1861. Ramonette's battery, along with those of Gros Rocher and Taillefer, was one of the sites modernized after 1870 on the island, although a reorganization project in the 1890s for four 19 cm guns did not succeed.

External links