La redoute de Merville

Standing tall today at Merville-Franceville Plage in the Normandy region of France, la redoute de Merville is an old military construction that dates back to 1779. Constituée selon le projet préconisé par Vauban lors de sa visite en 1699, this fort was built to safeguard the coast against possible English incursions. The project of construction for three redoubts was adopted in January 1779. La redoute de Merville was intended to monitor the mouth of the Orne, while a third building was to control the Colleville basin.

Seule la redoute de Merville a été conservée dans son intégralité, celle de Colleville a été partiellement détruite. The structure is shaped like a semi-buried horseshoe fort and was surrounded by moats where the water would flow in during high tide when the fort was completely encircled by the sea. The redoubt was equipped with two 24-canons, one mortar, and a powder magazine. Thirty men and an officer could be lodged within the buildings. A platform installed at the top of the fort allows control over the entire bay. Two tobrouks installed during the second world war are still present on the platform.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons