Petit Bé () is a
tidal island
A tidal island is a raised area of land within a waterbody, which is connected to the larger mainland by a natural isthmus or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide, causing the land to switch between being ...
near the city of
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany.
The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, close to the larger island of
Grand Bé. At
low tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables c ...
one can walk to the island from the nearby Bon-Secours beach.
Fort
In 1667 the French government built a small fort on the island of Petit Bé. Construction on the present fort began in 1689.
The fort was part of the defenses that
Vauban designed to protect Saint-Malo from
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
fleets. The defensive works included the walls of Saint Malo,
Fort National
Fort National is a fort on a tidal island a few hundred metres off the walled city of Saint-Malo. The great military architect Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Vauban had it built in 1689 to protect Saint-Malo's port.
The fort was originally c ...
,
Fort Harbourg,
Fort de la Conchée, and the forts of
Cézembre
Cézembre is an island in Brittany, in the Ille-et-Vilaine ''Département in France, département'' of France, near Saint-Malo. The island is uninhabited, with a surface area of approximately 18 hectares (44 acres), a length of , and a maximum w ...
and
Pointe de la Varde; these last two have been destroyed.
Construction began under the direction of the engineer Siméon Garangeau. The fort was still under construction in at the time of the British attack on Saint-Malo in November 1693. When an Anglo-Dutch force attacked Saint-Malo again in 1695, the fort helped repel the attack.
The fort consists of a horseshoe-shaped battery on the seaward side that has 19 embrasures for guns. In 1695 it held nine guns; two years later it was armed with 15 guns, including four 48-pounders and six 36-pounders, as well as two mortars. A garrison of 177 soldiers defended the fort and served its guns. On the landward side the fort consisted of two half-bastions that flank the entrance, which is a few metres above the level of the rocks. The bastions are loopholed for muskets to enable the defenders to resist attempts to scale the defences. Several different plans were advanced for a demi-lune
outwork
An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier
A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...
in front of the entrance but in the end none was built. Cross-fire from Petit Bé and Fort Harbourg in
Dinard
Dinard (; , ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France.
Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this has resul ...
protected the estuary of the
Rance
Rance may refer to:
Places
* Rance (river), northwestern France
* Rancé, a commune in eastern France, near Lyon
* Ranče, a small settlement in Slovenia
* Rance, Wallonia, part of the municipality of Sivry-Rance
** Rouge de Rance, a Devonian ...
. The fort was finally finished in 1707.
The French army occupied the fort until 1885. Later, the army turned the fort over to the city of Saint-Malo. It became a ''
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 collection of buildings, ...
'' in 1921, but was neglected until 2000, when the city gave it to a non-profit organization rent-free to renovate it and prepare it for tourism. Under the direction of Alain-Etienne Marcel, the fort has been restored. Brush was removed from the embrasures, some of which received period cannons. The cistern had to be emptied of garbage and it now retains storm water fed into it from the restored roof of the barracks building.
See also
*
Grand Bé
External links
Petit-Be.com(French)
Information about Petit Bé fort(French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Be, Petit
Saint-Malo Islands
Tidal islands of France
Forts of Saint-Malo
Forts in France
Vauban fortifications in France
Monuments historiques of Ille-et-Vilaine