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  2. Patrimoine
  3. Normandie
  4. Manche
  5. 50460 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin

  6. Fort de Querqueville, constitutive work of the Cherbourg harbour

Fort de Querqueville, constitutive work of the Cherbourg harbour dans la Manche

Manche

Fort de Querqueville, constitutive work of the Cherbourg harbour

    Fort de Querqueville
    50460 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg
Crédit photo : Institut géographique national (IGN), BD-ORTHO - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1786
Construction begins
1788
Discovery of high-level funds
1795
Partial completion
1854
Construction of Fort Chavagnac
1940
German occupation
2013
Sale to the private sector
2021
Historical classification
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Fort Querqueville, in its entirety, including the southern ditch and its counterscarp wall, to the right of the outer envelope and to the exclusion of adjacent rocks, as delimited on the plan annexed to the Order, located on Parcels 416 AB 1 (Fort - Querqueville), 416 AB 87 (military aerodrome), 416 AB 98 (Fort – Querqueville), 416 AB 110 (military aerodrome): inscription by order of 15 July 2021; The fort of Querqueville, in its entirety, including its access structure, the counterscarp wall of the southern ditch, at the right of the outer envelope, and excluding the rocks and adjacent rocks, located on rue du port de Querqueville, on parcels No 416 AB 01, No 416 AB 87, No 416 AB 92, No 416 AB 98, No 416 AB 110, appearing in the cadastre section 416 AB, and on an uncadastral parcel, appearing in section 416 AB of the cadastre of the commune, as coloured in purple on the plan annexed to the decree: classification by order of 10 June 2025

Key figures

Pierre-Jean de Caux - Military engineer Design the initial plans of the fort.
Gilbert Pierre Alexandre de Chavagnac - Navy officer Discover the high ground in 1788.
Marquis de Montalembert - Military Theorist Inspires casemate design.
Thierry Maraud et Xavier Taburiaux - Private investors (2013) Buy the fort for $50,000.
Boubekeur Khelfaoui - Real estate promoter (2017) Get the fort for 500 000 €.

Origin and history

The fort of Querqueville, located at the western end of the Cherbourg dyke, was decided in 1786 and its construction began in 1787. He was supposed to defend the west pass, strategic point of access to the harbour. Initially planned with three floors of fire according to the plans of the engineer of Caux, inspired by the theories of the Marquis de Montalembert, only a hemicycle with 53 cases was completed in 1795. The guns, designed to shoot 48-pound balls, were to cover a range of 600 to 1,000 meters, but the discovery of high bottoms in 1788 by the Count of Chavagnac will shift the pass one kilometre eastward, making the fort less efficient.

Construction was interrupted because of this change and the political upheavals of the Revolution. Under the Empire, a pink and schist granite barracks closed the gorge of the fort, but no major modernization was subsequently undertaken, unlike Fort Chavagnac built nearby from 1854. During the Second World War, the Germans installed automatic parts to cover the Urville tank and a car turret Renault R35, still visible today. After 1945, the fort, which was considered obsolete, escaped the concrete transformations of other structures.

Owned by the National Navy until 2013, the fort was sold to private investors for €50,000, well below its estimate of €600,000. A luxury hotel-restaurant project, announced in 2013, was abandoned in 2015. In 2017, he was awarded €500,000 to a Paris real estate developer. Since 2018, the site has hosted cultural events, such as the Continental Festival, sponsored by UNESCO. Ranked a historic monument in July 2021, it now embodies a preserved military heritage, a witness to France's strategic ambitions in the 18th and 19th centuries.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum