The Fort de Bois-d'Arcy, also called the Batterie de Bois-d'Arcy, is one of the forts constructed at the end of the 19th century to defend
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
. It is located in the commune of
Bois d'Arcy in the
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Route nationale 12
The Route nationale 12, or RN12, is a trunk road ( nationale) in France connecting Paris with Brittany. The road forms part of European route E50. It is approximately long.
History
Until the 1950s, the RN 12 followed a different itinerary betwe ...]
. It is now the home of the French national film archives, the
Centre national de la cinématographie
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
.
History
Built between 1874 and 1881, the fort was planned to reinforce the western fortifications of Paris. The southwestern forts were designed to cover the approach of a relieving army from the western portions of France. The Bois-d'Arcy fort protected the neighboring
Fort de Saint-Cyr
The Fort de Saint-Cyr, located in the commune of Montigny-le-Bretonneux, (Yvelines), is one of the forts built at the end of the 19th century to defend Paris. After the first world war the fort was used as an army weather station and arms depot. C ...
,
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
and the Camp de Satory, covering the Trappes valley and railway lines from
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
and
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
.
During World War II the fort was occupied by German forces. Before leaving, the Germans blew up the front of the fort in 1944.
Film depository
During the 1960s the fort was placed at the disposal of the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
*Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
and was used by the
Centre national de la cinématographie
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
from 1969 as a storage center for nitrate-based films. It has since been designated a depository for all French films and is involved in the digitization of movies for
digital preservation
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and ...
.
It is classed as a
Monument historique, designated on 15 February 1991.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Fortifications of Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries
The fortifications of Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries comprise:
*The Thiers Wall, surrounding the city of Paris, and farther from the city,
*The detached forts and their complementary fieldworks.
They were built in two stages:
*1840–1845 ...
References
External links
La batterie de Bois-d'Arcy, in the Bois d'Arcy commune's site
CNC official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bois d'Arcy, Fort De
Fortifications of Paris
Séré de Rivières system
Film archives in France
Buildings and structures in Yvelines