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The Tour Vauban

Opposite the Hotel de France

The Tour Vauban is a defensive tower constructed based a plan by Louis XIV’s military engineer Vauban. It was built on the Sillon in Camaret-sur-Mer, close to the Notre Dame de Rocamadour chapel. The Tour Vauban was part of a complex strategy aimed at defending the Brest coast.

It consists of a tower, a guard house, a battery that could house 11 canons, as well as a heated-shot furnace, all surrounded by a trench that can only be accessed by drawbridge. 

The tower consists of four levels – a basement (closed to the public), a ground floor and two upper floors. Accessed through a trap door, the basement was where supplies and gunpowder were stored. Accessed by a spiral staircase, the upper floors housed the guardrooms and lodgings. For its defence, the tower was given arrow slit-style openings for musket fire.

The tower is flanked by a lower semi-circle battery with wide embrasures and a defensive guard house. At the top of the battery, you can still admire one of the best conserved examples of a heated-shot furnace, used for warming cannonballs prior to launch.