Fort Mont Verdun is the biggest highlight of the second belt of Forts around Lyon and is the only one considered to be a mountain fort. It rests at 630 meters altitude, dominating

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Limonest Limonest () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Geography Limonest is located northwest of Lyon in the Monts d'Or hills. Its people are known as the ''Limonois''. See also *Communes of t ...

, the lower

Azergues The Azergues () is a river in the department of Rhône, eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Saône, which it joins in Anse. It is long. Its source is in the Beaujolais hills, near Chénelette. The Azergues flows through the following t ...

valley and the Saône valley. It was covered by a low battery and four other associated batteries: Mont Thou, Les Carrières, Narcel and La Freta. It is now occupied by the Airbase 942 Lyon-Mont Verdun. This belt of forts included the forts of

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

, Vancia,

Fort de Feyzin The Fort Feyzin is a fort built between 1875 and 1877 in Feyzin. It is one of the forts of the second belt of forts around Lyon and more generally the Séré de Rivières fort system. This belt of forts included the forts of Bron, Vancia, Feyzi ...

and Fort du Mont Verdun itself.

History

Work began in 1874 and the barracks were strengthened in 1886 by special concrete. A pentagon, the fort is surrounded by covered trench caponnières. The entrance to the fort is via a Pont Dormant extended by an overhead crane. A thick pile of earth at its center hides the barracks of two floors which can accommodate 500 men. This slope surface also housed 14 artillery platforms. Two powder stores, capable of holding 76 and 65 tonnes, provisioned the artillery. A

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

was also installed on the fort; it ensured communications with the Fort St. Eynard and that of the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

from

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. The fort is one of the few in the region to have its military service capstones still visible in the surrounding fields.

Today

The fort was declassed in 1889 and was then used as a store and

ammunition depot An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives. The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. The ...

. In 1943–44, the Fort was used by the Germans for air defense.. After the war, the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

installed a radar unit, the Airbase 942 Lyon-Mont Verdun. The

radome A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and ...

placed on the fort is visible from Lyon.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mont Verdun, Fort du Séré de Rivières system Fortifications of Lyon Buildings and structures in Lyon Metropolis