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Origin and history

Fort Carré d'Antibes was built in the 16th century under the reign of Henry II to strengthen the border between the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Savoy, then allied to Spain. Located on Saint-Roch peninsula, it replaces a medieval chapel and includes a central tower, the St. Lawrence Tower, completed around 1553. Its bastioned architecture, probably designed by Jean de Renaud (known as Jean de Saint-Rémy), reflects the defensive needs of the time, after the bags of Antibes by the Spaniards in 1524 and 1536.

Vauban visited the fort in the 1680s and proposed improvements, but few were achieved. Only comfort work for the troops and external defences were carried out by engineer Antoine de Niquet. The fort, used as a prison during the Second World War, was decommissioned militarily at the end of the 19th century after Nice's attachment to France (1860), making its strategic position obsolete.

Ranked a historic monument in 1906, Fort Carré was restored by volunteers from the Club du Vieux Manoir between 1979 and 1985. Purchased by the city of Antibes in 1997, it has been open to the public since 1998. Its architecture, marked by vaulted casemates and an annular building, bears witness to Renaissance military techniques. Interior coatings preserve traces of painted decorations from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The site now houses remains of its military past, such as a 20th-century combatant's journey, as well as spaces dedicated to youth and sport. Its outer enclosure, called fort of the Presquíle or fort Reille, is also part of the classification. The fort illustrates the evolution of coastal fortifications, from the Italian wars to its contemporary symbolic role.

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