Fort Médoc

We have been meaning to visit this site for a while and finally got round to it today. It is a fascinating and strangely peaceful site on the banks of the Gironde.

Fort Medoc was built on the orders of Louis XIV in 1689 to defend the Gironde Estuary and prevent an enemy fleet from sailing up towards Bordeaux. This fort was built together with the Citadel of Blaye on the other side of the Gironde and Fort Paté on the island between the two.

In the 1960s restoration work started and the site was cleared up and is now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
The fort comprised a number of buildings comprising among other things; a bakery, soldiers barracks (in ruins), an ammunition store, a chapel and a water storage well system. 

Today's main shot shows the main surveillance building which overlooks the Gironde, and in the foreground can be seen the ruins of the soldiers barracks. In the extra is the fort Gatehouse seen from inside the fort grounds.