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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Fort Napoleon, located on the height of Cairo in La Seyne-sur-Mer, was built to strengthen the defense of the Toulon harbour. In 1793, the English built a dread of land and wood, called the Mulgrave dread, to protect the forts of Balaguier and the Eguillette. This strategic position allowed control of naval movements between the small and large rades of Toulon. The dread was taken over by the Republican troops the same year, and as early as 1794, a permanent fortification project was envisaged to secure the rears of the coastal forts and avoid a bombardment of the Toulon arsenal, only 3 km away.

In 1809, under the impetus of Napoleon Bonaparte, the project was relaunched to build a dreaded model n°2, a square structure of 50 meters side, fossilized and bastioned. The works, led by Jean François Sorbier, director of the Toulon fortifications, began in May 1811. The fort, organized around a central courtyard with casemates backed by courtines, could accommodate a garrison of 250 men. A terraced battery allowed fire in all directions. The site finished around 1821, as indicated by the vintage engraved at the entrance, during the reign of Louis XVIII.

Fort Napoleon, conceived as a prototype, is the only example built of dread model n°2, as part of a program of normalized fortification of the Empire coast. He did not participate in fighting until 1944, when France was liberated. Unarmed in 1973, it was ceded to the city of La Seyne-sur-Mer and has been home to the contemporary art gallery "The Head of Obsidian". It also hosts festivals of Cuban jazz and music, as well as calendar festivals in December. In 2002, he served as a stage for Bernie Bonvoisin's film Blanche. The fort was listed as historical monuments by order of 7 October 2019.

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