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Origin and history

The ball furnaces of the Lérins islands are military installations located on the islands of Saint-Honorat and Sainte-Marguerite, in the Gulf of La Napoule off Cannes. Built in the 17th century, these furnaces were used to heat cannon pellets to make them incendiary projectiles, capable of setting fire to enemy ships. Their operation was based on a system of rails guiding the balls to a fireplace, where they were carried red before being pulled.

In 1793 General Bonaparte, then assigned to the army of the Alps, ordered the construction of batteries on these islands to strengthen coastal defence. Four furnaces were built: two on Île Sainte-Marguerite (for Dragon and Vengeur batteries) and two on Île Saint-Honorat (for Republican and Brave Gens batteries). Each oven produced an incendiary ball every ten minutes, with a heating time of about thirty-five minutes.

The furnaces on Saint-Honorat Island were classified as historic monuments on October 22, 1908, recognizing their heritage importance. Their technical design, including a reverberant vault and a clamp for handling the pellets, illustrates the ingenuity of the coastal fortifications of the time. These installations testify to the military strategies put in place to protect the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur from maritime attacks.

Today, these furnaces are part of the historical heritage of the Alpes-Maritimes, and their preservation is part of a broader context of valorizing the military sites of the region. Their study, documented by researchers such as André Tiret or Stéphane Esclamanti, provides a better understanding of coastal defence techniques used between the 17th and 19th centuries.

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