FRANCE - Fortifications of Vauban (UNESCO WHS)

Fortifications of Vauban consists of 12 groups of fortified buildings and sites along the western, northern and eastern borders of France. They represent the finest examples of the work of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV. Vauban is known for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them; his ideas, starting from Pagan's Les Fortifications, were the dominant model of siegecraft and fortification for nearly 100 years.

The serial property includes towns built from scratch by Vauban, citadels, urban bastion walls and bastion towers. There are also mountain forts, sea forts, a mountain battery and two mountain communication structures. This property is inscribed as bearing witness to the peak of classic fortifications, typical of western military architecture. Vauban also played a major role in the history of fortification in Europe and on other continents until the mid-19th century.

The 12 groups are the following (the ones with links are presented individually on my blog):
• Arras, Pas-de-Calais: citadel
• Besançon, Doubs: citadel, city walls and Fort Griffon
• Blaye-Cussac-Fort-Médoc, Gironde: citadel of Blaye, city walls, Fort Paté and Fort Médoc
• Briançon, Hautes-Alpes: city walls, Redoute des Salettes, Fort des Trois-Têtes, Fort du Randouillet, ouvrage de la communication Y and the Asfeld Bridge
• Camaret-sur-Mer, Finistère: Tour Dorée
• Longwy, Meurthe-et-Moselle: ville neuve
• Mont-Dauphin, Hautes-Alpes: place forte
• Mont-Louis, Pyrénées-Orientales: citadel and city walls
• Neuf-Brisach, Haut-Rhin: ville neuve/Breisach (Germany): gateway of the Rhine
• Saint-Martin-de-Ré, Charente-Maritime: city walls and citadel
• Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue/Tatihou, Manche: watchtowers
• Villefranche-de-Conflent, Pyrénées-Orientales: city walls, Fort Libéria and Cova Bastera

References:
Fortifications of Vauban - UNESCO official website
Fortifications of Vauban - Wikipedia