Fort-de-France/ Guided tour of Fort Desaix

Name: Fort-de-France/ Guided tour of Fort Desaix
Start: 2022-09-17T08:30:00-04:00
End: 2022-09-18T18:00:00-04:00
Location: Fort Desaix

Guided tour by groups of 25 people maximum. Tour departure times: 09h - 10h30 - 14h - 15h30 - 17h. Duration of the visit: 1h to 1h15.

17 and 18 September 2022Passed

Accès

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About the location

Fort Desaix

Route de Redoute 97200 Fort-de-France

Martinique

Today, Fort Desaix is the largest Vauban fortification in Martinique. The building consists of 34 buildings within the walls as well as several bastions and three outer half-moons, the largest of which measures 90 metres at the base. Fort Desaix remains the headquarters of the Superior Command of the Armed Forces in the West Indies and the 33rd Regiment of Marine Infantry. Its construction was initiated in 1765 by France to increase the defensive system of the capital of the island "Fort Royal". Named "Fort Bourbon" in 1772, it will then be named "Fort de la Convention" in 1793 and then Fort Desaix in 1802 in tribute to General Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, killed during the Battle of Marengo. It was taken twice by the English, not by force but after a long siege, in 1794 and 1809 and was renamed "Fort George". It finally returned to France in 1814\. During the Second World War, the fort was home to 286 tons of gold from the Banque de France.