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Origin and history

Kerdonis, located in Locmaria on the island of Belle-Île-en-Mer (Morbihan), is a military complex built in the 3rd quarter of the 19th century. It includes a creneled guard body model 1846, built in 1858, embedded in the rocky relief of the Kerdonis tip, as well as a battery on the cliff edge connected by an excavated path. This strategic site, armed with 4 cannons and held by 20 men, replaced older fortifications dating from the 18th century, including a dread and battery bombed by the English in 1761 and 1795 during conflicts for the control of the island.

The guard body, the only example kept in its original state, was designed to defend the battery below. It was built in 1859, and included an earth shoulder and a 42-metre masonry wall, with artillery platforms added in 1862. The site, disarmed in 1874, was ceded to the Navy in 1932 and occupied by the Germans during World War II before being sold to an individual in 1961. It has been listed as a Historic Monument since 2000, but remains closed to the public.

The origins of the site date back to the Seven Years' War (1761), when the British landed there after their failure at Port Andro. French military engineers built a dread and battery in 1782, armed successively with 24 pound, 12 inch guns, and 30 pounds in the 19th century. The modernization projects in the mid-19th century were marked by hesitations about the location of the battery (high or low), resolved by the recommendations of General Noizet in 1848, rediscovered in 1857. The current reduction, built between 1860 and 1861, illustrates these strategic adaptations.

During World War II, the Germans used the neighbouring lighthouse as a watch and the guard corps as a barracks. A provisional battery of 2 95 mm guns was installed there in 1939-1940. After the war, the site, deemed obsolete, was sold to the Domains in 1961 to a private owner. Today, although protected, it is not accessible, thus preserving its military authenticity.

The tip of Kerdonis, a key point in Belle-Île's defence, reflects the strategic stakes of the French Atlantic facade, from the 18th century colonial wars to the 20th century world conflicts. Its architecture, mixing stone masonry and rocky developments, bears witness to the evolution of coastal artillery, while its current isolation makes it a rare vestige of this defensive heritage.

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