The Fort de Salses (also called Forteresse de Salses) is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

fortress in the '' commune'' of

Salses-le-Château Salses-le-Château (; ca, Salses) or just Salses is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is located north of the city of Perpignan. Geography Salses-le-Château is located in the canton of La Vallée de l'Ag ...

, situated in the French ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

. It is clearly visible from the A9 autoroute as well as the train line between Perpignan and Narbonne and it is possible to visit from the motorway rest area and the local train station. Built by the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese at the end of the 15th century, the fortress guarded the former frontier between

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian P ...

and France. Its layout and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, innovative for the time, present a rare example of the transition between

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and the fortresses of the modern period.
The fort was captured by the French in 1642, and remained French after the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

. Fort de Salses is listed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the French Ministry of Culture, and is operated by the '' Centre des monuments nationaux''. The fortress receives 100,000 visitors a year. During the Spanish Civil War, the fort was used as a refuge.

References

External links

Forteresse de Salses - Centre des monuments nationaux
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salses, Fort de Castles in Pyrénées-Orientales Monuments historiques of Pyrénées-Orientales Forts in France Historic house museums in Occitania (administrative region) Museums in Pyrénées-Orientales Buildings and structures completed in the 15th century Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux

See also

References

External links