Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The ramparts of Langres, located in the Haute-Marne department in the Grand Est region, are the result of two millennia of successive defensive constructions. Occupied since the Neolithic period, the Langres site, then the capital of the Lingons, was considered as stunning in the 17th century thanks to its topography on a "overturned plate" and its gradually reinforced fortifications. The current walls, 3.6 km long, incorporate Gallo-Roman, medieval and modern elements, including seven fortified towers and six emblematic gates such as the Moulins Gate or the Saint-Ferjeux Tower, the first 360° artillery tower built under Louis XI.

In the 19th century, the defensive system was extended by strong detachments, inspired by the Vauban principles, to control the strategic axes between Paris and Basel. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Langres, a strong position barring the German troops, resisted thanks to a garrison of 12,000 men despite precarious conditions. The ramparts, combined with a bastioned citadel built at the end of the 19th century, illustrate the evolution of military techniques, from the Gallic oppida to post-Renaissance adaptations.

The Tower of Navarre (1511-1519), with its 7 metre thick walls, and the Longe-Porte Gate, Roman triumphal arch of the fourth century, symbolize the superposition of the eras. These fortifications, supplemented by elements such as the Saint John Tower or the Henry IV Gate, preserved Langres from invasions until the modern era. Ranked a city of art and history, the city owes its stamp to this exceptional military heritage, today enhanced by walks like that of Blanchefontaine, planted under Henry IV.

The ramparts also played an economic and social role, sheltering artisanal suburbs like the Auges, where Langroise cutlery developed. Their preservation, reinforced by a safeguarded sector created in 1985, makes it possible today to understand the medieval and modern urban organization. The audacious hand of the garrison during the siege of 1870, such as the capture of German convoys at Combeaufontaine, recall the lasting strategic importance of these fortifications.

Finally, the ramparts are inseparable from the religious history of Langres, the seat of an even bishopric-duchy of France since the 12th century. The bishops-ducs, like Gauthier of Burgundy, exercised a temporal and spiritual power there, marking the city with their architectural footprint. The Cathedral of Saint-Mammès, protected by these walls, and the towers like that of Orval, reflect this duality between ecclesiastical power and military defense, characteristic of Langres since the Middle Ages.

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