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Origin and history

The guard corps of the Pointe du Cardinal in Sauzon, built in the third quarter of the 19th century, is part of a coastal battery whose origin dates back to a demand by Vauban in 1689. A first battery was mentioned in 1692, equipped with cannons and mortars to defend the port of Sauzon. It played an active role during the maritime wars of the eighteenth century and revolutionary conflicts, with successive rearmaments (notably in 1747, 1803, and 1813 with a reverberal furnace).

The battery was completely rebuilt between 1847 and 1861 under the auspices of the Joint Coastal Armaments Commission. The present guard corps, of type 1846 no. 3, was completed in 1861 with artillery platforms. However, the battery was decommissioned in 1889, sold to an individual in 1900, and then reused as a German radar station during the Second World War. Today, only the guard corps (listed in the Historical Monuments in 2000) remains alongside a partially covered concrete radar tank.

The site illustrates the evolution of coastal defensive strategies, from Vauban's recommendations to the adaptations of the 19th century and German military occupations. Its terrified parapet, visible on the aerial photographs of the 20th century, and its crenelated small, testify to its historic importance in the protection of Belle-Île-en-Mer. The battery next to the Port Blanc, designed to complete its defence, was never built.

The armament of the battery varied according to the times: 2 cannons of 36 pounds and 3 of 12 pounds in 1747, then 3 cannons of 36 pounds and a mortar in 1803, before being equipped in 1841 with 2 cannons of 30 pounds and 2 cannons of 22 cm. Its decline in the 19th century reflected technological and strategic changes in coastal artillery, leading to its gradual abandonment after 1874.

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