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Origin and history

The citadel of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in New Aquitaine, was built in the seventeenth century on the site of the former castle of the kings of Navarre. Built between 1625 and 1627 by Pierre de Conty de La Mothe d'Argencourt, it was subsequently redesigned by military engineer Vauban in 1680, who added half moons and strengthened his defences. This bastioned system, typical of the French military architecture of the time, aimed to secure the border with Spain, in a context of Franco-Spanish tensions and religious wars.

The citadel, which dominates the upper city and its 13th century medieval ramparts, incorporates defensive elements such as ditches, casemates, bastions and drawbridges. It was home to complete military infrastructure: arsenals, pedriers, bakery, well and chapel. Occupied as a garrison until the 1920s, she served briefly as a prison during the First World War before being transformed into a public college in the 1980s. Today, although not accessible to the public, it remains a remarkable example of 17th-century military art, preserving its original design and interior design.

The ramparts of the upper town, dating from the 13th century, were reinforced in the 14th century and then modified by Vauban, which added straight arches and walls of connection with the citadel. These fortifications, supplemented in the 18th century by an enclosure for the lower city, illustrate the evolution of defensive techniques over nearly five centuries. The citadel, classified as a Historical Monument in 1963, also includes Gaztelumendi's dread, a strategic extension of its defences. Its history reflects the repeated conflicts for the control of Navarre, between the kingdoms of France, Spain and Navarre, as well as its key role in protecting the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, founded as a bastide in the 12th century by Sanche VII the Fort, king of Navarre, became a major political and commercial center, capital of the Merindad of Ultrapuertos. The city, surrounded by walls pierced by five medieval gates (including the St. James Gate, borrowed by pilgrims), was a strategic issue during the wars of Navarre in the 16th century. The citadel, barring access to Spain, completed a defensive device including the forts of Bayonne, Hendaye and Navarrenx, designed to control the western Pyrenees.

The architecture of the citadel, combining sandstone and limestone, shows the influence of French military engineers, with angular bastions and half moons characteristic of mountain strongholds. Underground casemates, powder shops and wells demonstrate its autonomy in the event of a siege. Although demilitarized in 1814, its structure has changed little, offering an intact testimony to the pre-Vaubanian and Vaubanian fortifications. The city, for its part, preserves a medieval civil and religious heritage, such as the church of Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont and the half-timbered houses on the rue de la Citadelle, reflecting its rich Navarre and Basque past.

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