Fort de Brégançon

Fort de Brégançon
Fort de Brégançon
	The Fort de Brégançon seen from the sea
General information
Type	Fortress
Town or city	Bormes-les-Mimosas
Country	France

43°05′36″N 6°19′20″E / 43.093384°N 6.32216°E / 43.093384; 6.32216

The Fort de Brégançon (French pronunciation: [fɔʁ də bʁeɡɑ̃sɔ̃]; English: Brégançon Fort) is a medieval fortress, located 35 metres (115 ft) above sea level on an islet off the French Riviera, connected by a short causeway to the mainland, in the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Var department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It has been the official retreat of the President of the French Republic since 1968.

History

The island has long been occupied, due in part to its easily defended nature, and that it allows easy view of the sea access to Hyères and Toulon. The island was the site of a Ligurian oppidum in the 6th century BCE.

In the eleventh century, the territory belonged to the Viscount of

Sicily

.

In 1480, Charles of Maine, last ruler of Provence, bequeathed his county to King

Louis XI of France. After the King confided Brégançon to Provençal captains, the current fort was built on the island in 1483 by Jean de Baudricourt as part of the French monarchy's coastal defence efforts. In 1574, King Henry III of France donated Brégançon by letters patent to Antoine Escalin des Aymars, baron of the guard, captain general of the galleys. The fort and estate were separated in 1786. Napoléon Bonaparte

became interested in Brégançon after the recapture of Toulon, and after initial repairs endowed it with improved artillery, and then strengthened the garrison with a company of Imperial veterans.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the War Ministry commissioned work to ensure that the fort could receive modern artillery and a powder magazine, without affecting the external appearance of the fortress. The allowed a small garrison to occupy the fort during World War I, but this was decommissioned in 1919. From the 1920s, excluding the period of World War II, the French Republic rented the fort to various private individuals, the last being a former Minister of Marine of the Third Republic, Robert Bellanger [arz; fr], who with approval restored the fort to become a comfortable private residence whilst preserving its original appearance.

Presidential residence

After the expiry of the lease to Bellanger in 1963, the state took possession of the fort. It became a presidential residence in 1968 during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970).^[1] In 1985 François Mitterrand invited Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Brégançon.^[2]

It was used only once by President

La Lanterne in Yvelines has also been used as a retreat. It was also only used once by President François Hollande and his partner Valérie Trierweiler, in the summer of 2012, when it was discovered it was not sufficiently private, too easy a target for paparazzi.^[1]

In October 2013, it was announced it would become a national monument open to the public, in an effort to reduce state expenditure.[1] The maintenance and staffing of the property cost 200,000 euro a year.^[1] Instead, La Lanterne became the official retreat of the President of France.^[1]

The fort, however, remained in use as an official retreat of the President of the French Republic. Emmanuel Macron has received only a few foreign dignitaries, including the following: