Fort Saint-Jean (Lyon)

The Fort Saint-Jean is located in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon and part of the first fort belt of Lyon, which includes Fort de Loyasse, and the now-demolished Fort Duchère and Fort de Caluire.

Fort Saint-Jean
Fort Maupetit
Lyon
View of fort at night from the quays of the Saône river
Fort Saint-Jean
Fort Maupetit
Coordinates45°46′13″N 4°48′55″E
TypeFort
Site history
Built1834
Part of the primary belt of forts of Lyon

History

The fort was initially nothing but a bastion built as a component of the wall around the Croix-Rousse hill at the beginning of 16th century by François I, to protect the town from the Swiss. In 1636 the Halincourt gate was built to the Rhone. The fort was completed in the 18th century, but construction of the current building began in 1834. Fort Saint-Jean has an area of 17,000 m2 and dominates the Saône river from 40m above the river. In 1932, the Military Health Service had its regional pharmacy there.

On 2 September 1944, when Lyon was occupied by the Germans, a group of volunteers gathered at the fort to prevent the occupiers from destroying the bridges over the Saône.

In 1984 the fort was occupied by the Veterinary Service of the Armed Forces.

Today
View of the fort from the quays of the Sâone

Rehabilitated in 2001 by architect Pierre Vurpas, Fort St. Saint-Jean has been home, since 2004, to the National Treasury School (ENT) which became the National School of Public Finance (ENFiP) on 4 August 2010. This school trains public finance controllers and occasionally hosts cultural events.

gollark: This should usher in a new age of skynet-based uselessness.
gollark: The skynet CLI thing is going pretty well.
gollark: Having basically all shops exclusively housed within a mall controlled by a single person is *not great*.
gollark: Have you considered opening a location out of wolf mall?
gollark: That is a *weird* price.

See also

Bibliography
  • Les défenses de Lyon, François Dallemagne ; Georges Fessy(photographer). - Éditions Lyonnaises d'Art et d'Histoire, 2006. (ISBN 2-84147-177-2)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.