Welcome!

Bastioned fortification resource

Hello and welcome to my "Fortified Places" website. The aim of this site is to provide information on bastioned-fortifications, primarily the work of Vauban'and his contemporaries. See The Project for more details.

Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions: dominicgoode@hotmail.com, and please sign the guestbook.

Latest News:

  • 22/4/08: Article on Fort la Latte by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 7/4/08: Article on Ile Cézon by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 4/4/08: Article on the Battle of La Hougue added to the sieges section - I know it wasn't a siege but it is an action that involved a fortified place, so it fits on this site.

  • 1/4/08: Article on Gosport added to the fortresses section.

  • 28/3/08: I have made a number of corrections to the article on Besançon, since it came to my attention that some of the assertions I had made about the citadel were incorrect. Please accept my apologies.

  • 27/3/08: Article on the Château du Taureau by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 26/3/08: Article on the tower at Ile des Hebihens by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 23/3/08: Article on Ile d'Aix by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 19/3/08: Article on Portsmouth added to the fortresses section - sorry this has taken a while, I've been rather busy lately.

  • 8/1/08: Article on Fort de la Prée by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 5/1/08: Article on Carisbrooke Castle added to the fortresses section.
    I apologise for the lack of updates recently, I have had not access to my webspace for a while, but hopefully there will be some more updates soon. Watch this space.

  • 11/8/07: Retranchement added to the fortresses section.

  • 3/8/07: Page on the fortress of Sluis uploaded.

  • 1/8/07: Damme added to the fortresses section.

  • 30/7/07: Jeroen van der Werf's article on Fouras added to the fortresses section.

  • 29/7/07: The Fort van Beieren added to the fortresses section.

  • 28/7/07: Articles on Courtrai and Bruges added to the fortresses section.

  • 27/7/07: Articles on Fort Médoc and Fort Paté by Jeroen van der Werf added to the fortresses section.

  • 20/7/07: Siege of Tournai, 1709 added to the sieges page.

  • 7/7/07: Article on the Sheerness added to the fortresses section.

  • 4/7/07: Article on the Sieges of Le Quesnoy, 1712 uploaded to the sieges page.

  • 27/06/07: Thanks to Marcus Prauschke, who has written an article on the fascinating fortress of Mont Royal in Germany.

  • 19/06/07: Found a number of interesting short videos on some of Vauban's work from the French TV channel TF1 (in French). They are associated with the campaign to get some of Vauban's fortresses on the UNESCO world heritage list. Click on the links below to see the videos - they will open in a new window.

  • 18/06/07: New pictures added to the page on Rocroi.

  • 16/06/07: New pictures added to the page on Montmédy.

  • 15/06/07: I've uploaded another article by Jeroen van der Werf - the fortress of Longwy in Lorraine.

  • 05/06/07: Many thanks to Jeroen van der Werf for his article on Bitche, which is added to the fortresses section.

  • 18/05/07: There's not much happening here at the moment, but watch this space - I shall hopefully be visiting some interesting places this summer! In the meantime here's a link to an excellent site with a virtual relief map of the fortifications of Brest, in Brittany: Brest3d.fr.

    Below are some shots of a section of the physical relief map of Brest, which has yet to be fully restored, at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris:
The glacis and covered way in front of the south end of the eastern fortifications. The houses along the north bank of the river to the east of the town.

  • 23/03/07: Many thanks for Jeroen van der Werf's article on Willemstad.

  • 13/03/07: Jeroen van der Werf has written another article for the site, this time on the Dutch fortified town of Brielle.

  • 11/04/07: Article on Verdun added to the fortresses section.

  • 17/03/07: Many thanks to Jeroen van der Werf for his article and pictures on the fortress of Naarden in the Netherlands.

  • 28/02/07: I recently spent a weekend in Berlin and had the chance to visit the citadel at Spandau - here's an article on it.

  • 10/02/07: Jeroen van der Werf has kindly written an article on the Ile de Tatihou for the site.

  • 19/01/07: Article on the siege of Ypres, 1678 added to the sieges pages.

  • 16/01/07: Many thanks to Marcelo Caceres for the second installment in his article on Cartagena, the San Jose Battery.

  • 27/12/06: Merry Christmas! Article on Camber Castle added to the fortresses section.

  • 22/9/06: Article on Tilbury Fort added to the fortresses section.

  • 15/9/06: Article on the siege of Arras, 1640 added to the sieges section.

  • 10/9/06: I am pleased to announce that the guestbook is now working again.

  • 2/9/06: Article on the siege of Maastricht, 1632 added to the sieges section.

  • 31/8/06: Article on Gravelines added to the relief maps section.

  • 30/8/06: Article on Bouchain added to the relief maps section.

  • 29/8/06: Article on the siege of Namur, 1695 added to the sieges page.

  • 25/8/06: Article on the siege of Charleroi, 1693 added to the sieges page.

  • 24/8/06: Article on Arras added to the fortresses section.

  • 23/8/06: Article on Douai added to the fortresses section and the siege of Maastricht, 1673 added to the sieges page.

  • 22/8/06: Article on Valenciennes uploaded to the fortresses section.

  • 21/8/06: Ypres added to the fortresses section.

  • 20/8/06: Article on the Siege of Saint Omer, 1677 added to the sieges page.

  • 19/8/06: Many thanks to Marcelo Caceres for his article on Cartagena - the first non-European fortress to be featured on this site!

  • 2/7/06: Article on Upnor Castle added to the fortresses section.

  • 29/6/06: Article on Suomenlinna added to the fortresses section. Its quite big, so it may take a while to load if you're using a dial-up connection.

  • 27/6/06: Article on Hämeenlinna added to the fortresses section.

  • 26/6/06: I have just returned from a short trip to Finland - keep watching for updates. Article on Kajaani Castle added to the fortresses page.

  • 2/6/06: Article on Bergues added to the relief maps section.

  • 21/5/06: Article on Lille added to the relief maps page.

  • 5/5/06: Article on Chatham added to the fortresses section.

  • 22/4/06: Article on Calais added to the relief maps section.

  • 21/4/06: Apologies for my recent silence, hopefully lots more updates coming soon... Article on Namur added to the relief maps section.

  • 15/2/06: Article on Ypres added to the relief maps section.

  • 13/2/06: Birth of the French version of the site - this will be an ongoing process, as a large number of articles must be translated. Any help will be much-appreciated.

  • 12/2/06: Article on Ath added to the relief maps section.

  • 10/2/06: Article on Menin added to the relief maps section.

  • 9/2/06: Article on Audenarde added to the relief maps section.

  • 7/2/06: Page on siege warfare added to the sieges section. Article on Tournai added to the relief maps section.

  • 6/2/06: Page on Lille updated with new pictures and information. Article on Avesnes added to the relief maps section.

  • 5/2/06: Articles on Aire-sur-la-Lys and Charleroi added to the relief maps section.

  • 4/2/06: I recently visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille, so keep checking the relief maps section. Article on Maastricht added to the relief maps section.

  • 27/1/06: Article on Saint-Martin-de-Ré added to the relief maps section.

  • 20/1/06: Article on Fort la Prée added to the relief maps section.

  • 16/1/06: Many thanks to Chauf for this link to an interesting page about the construction of a relief map of Venlo, in the Netherlands...

  • 9/1/06: Article on Cockham Wood Fort added to the fortresses section.

  • 8/1/06: La Conchée and Fort Chavagnac added to the relief maps section.

  • 7/1/06: I revisited the Musée des plans reliefs recently. Many new pictures added in the relief maps section, articles on Belle Ile and Mont-St-Michel added.

  • 3/1/06: Article on Calais added to the fortresses section.

  • 1/1/06: Happy New Year! Article on Saint-Omer added to the fortresses section, which has been revamped.