The Fort de Vaujours, located in the commune of

Courtry Courtry () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Courtrysiens''. See also *Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department The following is ...

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobigny ...

, near the town of

Vaujours Vaujours () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the département of Seine-Saint-Denis. Known for its wines and fruit until the end of the 19th century, Vaujours is now one of the ...

, is one of the forts built at the end of the 19th century to defend

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. It became a research center for the

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission or CEA ( French: Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives), is a French public government-funded research organisation in the areas of energy, defense and securit ...

(CEA), France's Atomic Energy Commission. The center was closed in 1997.

History

In 1870, France was partly occupied by the

Prussian army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

. As a result of this defeat, the

Séré de Rivières system The system was named after Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières, its originator. The system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 along the frontiers and coasts of France. The fortresses were obsolescent by 1914 but were used during ...

of fortifications was built from 1874–1881 to defend Paris, consisting of 18 forts, five redoubts and 34 batteries. Construction started in 1876 on a roughly pentagonal fort with 48 artillery pieces and a garrison of 691 troops. Work was completed in 1882. The fort was updated in 1911 with a machine gun turret and a

Mougin turret The Mougin turret is a land-based revolving gun turret that housed some of the heaviest armament in French fortifications of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While not reliably resistant to the explosive shells of opposing artillery, Mougi ...

with two 155mm guns. The Fort de Vaujours is unique in its association with two annexes connected by a covered way to the main fort. The fort's barracks were burned in 1944. In 1947 the Sevran explosives works used the facility. From 1955 the site was occupied by the CEA as a research center, which considerably modified the fort and its environs. The CEA conducted pyrotechnic experiments at the location, using shock tubes and similar apparatus to study high-pressure shock waves in

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

. The Vaujours facility closed in 1997. The CEA proposed to sell the property, but concerns about radioactive contamination have stalled the sale. The large trapezoidal fort's main armament was a twin 155 mm

. The turret remains, but its guns have been removed.

Annexes

Fort de Vaujours' artillery battery annexes are located to the north and south of the main fort, connected by covered ways. The northern battery was manned by 162 troops with six gun mounts in casemates. The fort formed a rectangle, surrounded by a ditch which lacked the

caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...

s of the main fort for its defense. The south annex also has six gun emplacements. The north battery is being demolished while the south battery is in very good state and occupied by an association.

References

External links

Fort de Vaujours
at fortiff.be {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaujours, Fort De Fortifications of Paris Séré de Rivières system Nuclear research institutes Buildings and structures in Seine-Saint-Denis