Treaty of Ryswick 1697 (≈ 1697)
Toul is gaining greater strategic importance.
1698
Vauban project
Vauban project 1698 (≈ 1698)
Design of a modern three-door enclosure.
1699-1700
Start of work
Start of work 1699-1700 (≈ 1700)
Coated escarps, half moons abandoned.
1725
Construction of half a moon
Construction of half a moon 1725 (≈ 1725)
Protection of the entry of the Ingressin.
1822-1844
19th Century Strengthenings
19th Century Strengthenings 1822-1844 (≈ 1833)
Case and channel integration.
1874-1914
Belt of forts Séré de Rivières
Belt of forts Séré de Rivières 1874-1914 (≈ 1894)
16 works 5-7 km from Toul.
1901
Pierced from the Jeanne d'Arc gate
Pierced from the Jeanne d'Arc gate 1901 (≈ 1901)
Urban expansion beyond the ramparts.
1922
Military decommissioning
Military decommissioning 1922 (≈ 1922)
Partial retention for military use.
1929
Registration door of Metz
Registration door of Metz 1929 (≈ 1929)
First heritage protection.
1941
Classification of the enclosure
Classification of the enclosure 1941 (≈ 1941)
Protection extended to ditches and slopes.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The door of Metz: inscription by decree of 24 October 1929 - The fortified enclosure, including the counterscarp, the ground slopes, the escarp walls, the ditches and all the ground that extends outside, i.e. beginning at the gate of France: to the national 60 and 404 to the southeast, to the east canal, then to the east at the RN 404, finally to the north until the canal of the Marne to the Rhine (including canal): classification by decree of 18 November 1941
Key figures
Vauban - Military engineer
Designed the enclosure in 1698.
Séré de Rivières - General and Engineer
Directs the fort belt (1874-1914).
Origin and history
The fortifications of Toul were conceived in 1698 by Vauban in a post-Treaty strategic context of Ryswick (1697), where France lost territories east of the Rhine and had to rethink its defensive system. Toul, promoted third-line square, sees its ramparts modernized with three doors and an urban extension to the southeast. The work, begun in 1699-1700, remains unfinished: the counterscarps and half moons are abandoned for budgetary reasons, with the exception of a half moon built in 1725 to protect the entrance of the Ingressin.
In the 19th century, fortifications were subject to adjustments in the face of military developments. After the siege of 1814 revealing their vulnerability, reinforcements were carried out from 1822 to 1844, including two barracks (1832, 1842) and the integration of the canal into the defensive device with a gunboat (1846). The 1870 war and German annexation of Alsace-Moselle (Treaty of Frankfurt) transformed Toul into a strategic lock, pushing General Séré de Rivières to erect a belt of 16 forts (1874-1914) 5-7 km from the city.
The Vaubanian enclosure, although downgraded in 1922, is preserved in part thanks to its military use. The ditches were filled in 1940 with the rubble of the bombings, while urban breakthroughs (such as the Jeanne d'Arc Gate in 1901) facilitated the expansion of Toul beyond its ramparts. Today, the Metz Gate (registered since 1929) and the enclosure (classified in 1941) bear witness to this turbulent defensive history, marked by successive adaptations to military conflicts and technologies.
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