UNESCO World Heritage Site

Do you know Vauban? This famous engineer under King Louis XIV created an extraordinary network of fortified sites that form the borders of present-day France. A recognised genius in the art of bastioned fortification, Vauban was able to adapt pragmatically to each of the places he chose and sublimated by his constructions. Appreciated by the Sun King for his frankness, he won his absolute trust in the defence of the kingdom. An unrivalled observer of territories and people, his work, actions and thoughts made him a key figure of the Grand Siècle. As in his day, his thoughts still resonate strongly today.

More than three hundred years after his death, twelve of his fortifications joined forces to take up the challenge of being included on UNESCO's World Heritage List, which they were awarded on 7 July 2008. Representing every facet of the engineer's work, Vauban's twelve fortifications are unique, authentic and exemplary. From the northern plains to the Alps and the Pyrenees, via the west coast and the eastern border, they are now the heirs to this part of France's history and the standard-bearers of the richness of this universal and exceptional work of fortification.

Beyond the engineer and his work, Vauban's fortifications embody the diversity of France, its landscapes and its territories, through the richness of their cultures, their colours and their uses. Memories of the past, they are now living places, adapted to their time. Once fortresses closed in on themselves, they are now open to the world, just like the frontiers they had to defend in Vauban's day. Listen to a famous rock band live in the centre of a parade square? Snowshoe up to a mountain fort in winter? Take part in a torchlit tour inside the ramparts? Or take an amphibious boat to an island tower? All this is now possible at the heart of the Fortifications of Vauban!

1959. The temples of Abu Simbel and Philae, in Egypt, were in danger of disappearing beneath the waters of the Nile. The international community became aware of the irreparable loss this would represent for the whole of humanity. Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) launched a spectacular conservation campaign: the temples were moved to safe havens!

This awareness of a common heritage, or "world heritage", gave rise to the idea of a shared responsibility for protecting this heritage and the importance of passing it on to future generations.

1972. Following the rescue of the Egyptian temples of Abu Simbel and Philae and the realisation that the world's heritage was shared by all, UNESCO created a tool for collective action: the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The World Heritage List stems from this Convention. It lists all the properties in the world that have been recognised by UNESCO as being of outstanding universal value. Since the first properties were included in 1978, the list has grown steadily as the concept of heritage has evolved (e.g. cultural landscapes) and the possibilities for inclusion have expanded (e.g. properties made up of several sites in different countries).

[World heritage= all cultural and natural properties of such outstanding universal value that they are irreplaceable for humanity as a whole and transcend the principles of ownership and national borders.

[Outstanding universal value = cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of humankind.

So what does Vauban have to do with World Heritage?

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707) was not only an engineer, but also a designer and a great thinker on the role of the State and geopolitics. The famous engineer in the service of King Louis XIV lived life at a hundred miles an hour: he built or modified around 160 fortifications, forming a veritable network of fortified sites across the kingdom of France!

Thanks to his many travels, Vauban became an unrivalled observer of the kingdom. Always concerned with the common good, and never hesitating to contradict prevailing opinions, he drew on his thoughts and experience to come up with numerous ideas, such as a tax system proportional to wealth, and ideas on forest cultivation and population census!

But Vauban's genius lay above all in the art of fortification. He built numerous fortresses adapted to each site and to local resources, while developing standard plans for buildings (such as barracks) and increasing the depth of the defences. He brought bastioned fortification to such a degree of perfection that the system was never as effective as it was through his constructions.

It was for all these reasons that the Sun King placed his absolute trust in him for the defence of the kingdom and, from the siege of Maastricht (1673) onwards, allowed him to lead the attack trenches during sieges. In this way, Vauban left a lasting mark on the history of fortifications: his work influenced military architecture right up to the middle of the ^19th century, in Europe and even on other continents: his treatises on attacking and defending places, for example, were published in Russian and Turkish!

[Bastioned fortification= a system developed by Italian and then Dutch engineers from the ^16th century onwards, bastioned fortification succeeded medieval fortification, which consisted of high, thick ramparts. In order to resist the development of increasingly powerful artillery, bastioned fortifications offered defensive works that were staggered in depth, meaning they were further away from the enemy and hidden from view. The geometric layout of bastions and half-moons also eliminates any blind spots and optimises the defence of a stronghold.

It was to honour the unique work of this brilliant engineer that twelve of his fortifications took up the Unesco challenge and were inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List on 7 July 2008, before the entire international community.

Why these twelve sites? Because they are the most representative, the most authentic and the best preserved of Vauban's surviving sites. Together, the twelve Fortifications of Vauban, as a single serial property, represent an Outstanding Universal Value.

A sacred responsibility

To meet the challenge of World Heritage, the Network of Major Vauban Sites was created in 2005. It brings together the twelve fortified sites and coordinates their conservation, management and enhancement. It also aims to initiate and develop international exchange and research programmes.

Inclusion on Unesco's famous World Heritage List is a magnificent act of international recognition, but it is not an end in itself! France has made a commitment to the international community and to future generations to preserve and promote this exceptional heritage. So it's a shared commitment by all those who look after Vauban's Fortifications, and above all it's one hell of a responsibility!

[Serial property= a property inscribed on the World Heritage List which includes at least two components linked by clearly defined links. A serial property may be national (as in the case of Vauban's Fortifications) or transnational (for example, the Belfries of Belgium and France).

When we think of Vauban and his work, an image instinctively comes to mind: a fortification seen from the sky, in the shape of a compass rose. While this vision symbolises the art of fortification à la Vauban, there is much more to his work than this! Admiring these fortifications and the perfection of their design makes you realise just how exceptional each of them is.

Unique and impregnable: that's how to describe, in two words, Vauban's twelve fortifications on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Vauban's genius lay in his ability to make the territory to be fortified his own: by studying the soil, the relief, the weak points and the strong points, Vauban knew exactly which military constructions would best withstand attacks. It was not for nothing that in the ^19th century it was said: "Any town besieged by Vauban, town taken; any town defended by Vauban, impregnable town"!

Let's set off on a tour of France, to take on these unrivalled fortifications!

From the northern plains to the Alps and the Pyrenees, via the west coast and the eastern border, Vauban's fortifications are everywhere: they draw tangible borders and form a veritable "iron belt" protecting the kingdom. Vauban never ceased to adapt to all the sites, all the relief and all the diversity of France's landscapes, with a great deal of pragmatism. For example, he made as much use as possible of the building materials he found locally, to ensure that the buildings were as solid as possible.

Whether it's a seaside tower designed to defend a harbour entrance, a stronghold built from scratch in the mountains, or a city wall made up of bastioned towers, these twelve major sites are the best examples of this work of the mind, built in places chosen and sublimated by the engineer.

The "Fortifications of Vauban" serial property comprises the following components:

• the citadel of Arras: a new lowland citadel of the "first system"
• the citadel, urban enclosure and Fort Griffon at Besançon: adapted to a dominated meander site - Vauban's "second system" of bastioned towers
• the urban enclosure and the Pâté and Médoc forts in Blaye/Cussac-Fort-Médoc: blocking off an estuary and adapting to pre-existing works (Blaye enclosure), oval defensive tower (Pâté fort), gates and hydraulic defences (Médoc fort)
• the urban enclosure, the Salettes, Trois-Têtes, Dauphin and Randouillet forts, the Y communication and the Asfeld bridge in Briançon: totally adapted to the site/no system. Staggered defences flanking each other throughout the height and exceptional quality of the fortified landscape thus created
• the Tour Dorée at Camaret-sur-Mer: a fort facing the sea with a low battery and a gorge tower
• the new town of Longwy: one of Vauban's nine new towns, whose interior buildings and town planning have been preserved and which is preserved in its environment
• the stronghold of Mont-Dauphin: the creation of a "first system" stronghold in the mountains
• the citadel and enclosure at Mont-Louis: a "first system" fortification adapted to the mountains, incorporating a fine collection of military buildings
• the new town of Neuf-Brisach: a synthesis, both in terms of town planning and as the only example of the "third system
• the enclosure and citadel of Saint-Martin-de-Ré: citadel and urban enclosure on an island site
• the observation towers at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue / Tatihou: Vauban's third type of tower at sea, after the compact fort (Pâté) and the low battery tower (Camaret-sur-Mer)
• the enclosure, Fort Libéria and Cova Bastera at Villefranche-de-Conflent: an advanced mountain fort, an adaptation of a medieval mountain enclosure.

Embodying the diversity of France, its landscapes and its territories, the twelve major sites are heirs to this part of French history and standard-bearers for the richness of Vauban's work.

Twelve major sites for as many cultures, colours and uses. Twelve major sites that bear the memory of the past,twelve major sites that are alive today and proud of their history.