Initial design 1810 (≈ 1810)
Plans attributed to François Haxo.
1812-1813
Construction of the fort
Construction of the fort 1812-1813 (≈ 1813)
Building on the island of Port-Cros.
1875
Retention and modification
Retention and modification 1875 (≈ 1875)
Added a powder shop.
Années 1920 - Seconde Guerre mondiale
NRF location
NRF location Années 1920 - Seconde Guerre mondiale (≈ 1920)
Rented to *La Nouvelle Revue française*.
12 février 1947
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 12 février 1947 (≈ 1947)
Registration by ministerial decree.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Fortin de la Vigie : inscription by order of 12 February 1947
Key figures
François Nicolas Benoît Haxo - Military engineer
Design designer assigned.
Jean Paulhan - Writer and resistant
Actor of the NRF rental.
Origin and history
The Vigie Fort, also known as Vigie Fort, is a French military structure built on the island of Port-Cros, in the commune of Hyères (Var). Built in 1810 according to plans attributed to François Nicolas Benoît Haxo, it was completed between 1812 and 1813. Its architecture fits into a trapezoid isoceles with salient reins, typical of the tenaile system, and includes a ditch preceding the escarp. Originally, it housed a signal mast integrated into the Napoleonic coastal defence network.
In 1875, during the revision of the coastal defence system, the fort was kept and equipped with a powder store. In the 20th century, it was rented in the 1920s to La Nouvelle Revue française (NRF), becoming an emblematic place for its collaborators, including Jean Paulhan. After the Second World War, it was used by the DGA Missile Tests as a basis for measuring missile trajectories fired from Levant Island.
The fort is listed as historical monuments by order of 12 February 1947. Its barracks, backed by the escarp, consist of two buildings on the ground floor. Today, there remains an architectural testimony of the 19th century coastal military strategies, while having played a subsequent cultural and scientific role.
