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Origin and history

Charlemont Fort, located at Givet on a limestone spur overlooking the Meuse, was erected in the 3rd quarter of the 16th century by order of Charles Quint to protect the city from French incursions. His name paid tribute to the emperor ("Mont de Charles"), and his construction mobilized 3,000 workers, 20,000 infantrymen and 3,000 horsemen as early as 1555. The natural defences (80 m wide) limited the bastions to the north, where three "pice ass" bastions were built, typical of Renaissance fortifications. The vulnerable western front was protected by a horned structure and a "Crown of Asfeld" in the 17th century.

Conquered by Louis XIV in 1678, the fort was integrated into the Kingdom of France by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). Vauban reinforced the defenses there, adding a enclosure around Givet. In the 19th century, the Séré de Rivières system added a shelter and a staircase connected to a railway tunnel, allowing a discreet supply. The fort played a key role in the two world wars: bombed in 1914, it resisted before falling; In 1940, his artillery delayed the German advance was destroyed by the Luftwaffe. Freed in 1944, it housed 11,000 American soldiers during the Battle of the Ardennes.

From 1961 to 2009, the fort served as a commando training centre (CEC), inaugurated by General Massu for the 11th Light Division of intervention. The daggering routes and the specialties taught (mines, survival) made it an emblematic military site. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1927, it is now managed by the Ardennes Rives community of Meuse. Its ecological interest is of major importance: it is classified as ZNIEFF and Natura 2000 and is home to protected species such as the Damier de la succise and rare bats, while offering a geological stratotype of Givétian.

The Maugis tower, integrated into the defences, was modified by Vauban in 1678 to become the fort of the Macque, connected to Charlemont by a caponière. Busy by the Russians in 1816, he resisted the bombings of 1940. The site, partially collapsed in 2024 (east point), has been rehabilitated since 2011. Its night lighting, a project initiated in 1999, aims to enhance its heritage while preserving the adjacent nature reserve, rich in calcium lawns and cliffs with remarkable biodiversity.

A former independent commune until 1800, Charlemont merged with Givet after sheltering 151 inhabitants in 1911, before their final departure in 1914. The fort illustrates the military evolutions (from Charles Quint to Séré de Rivières) and the strategic stakes of the Meuse Valley, while embodying a unique natural and historical heritage in the East.

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