The ''Barrage Vauban'', or Vauban Dam, is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

and defensive work erected in the 17th century on the River Ill in the city of Strasbourg in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. At that time, it was known as the Great Lock (''grande écluse''), although it does not function as a

navigation lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

in the modern sense of the word. Today it serves to display sculptures and has a viewing terrace on its roof, with views of the earlier ''Ponts Couverts'' bridges and Petite France quarter. It has been classified as a '' Monument historique'' since 1971. The barrage was constructed from 1686 to 1690 in pink

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

by the French Engineer

Jacques Tarade Jacques Tarade (1646–1720) was a French engineer and colleague of Vauban, Marshal of France. He built the Barrage Vauban in Strasbourg, and the ''Rue Tarade'' in that town is named after him. He also designed the church in Huningue and the lat ...

according to plans by Vauban. The principal defensive function of the barrage was to enable, in the event of an attack, the raising the level of the River Ill and thus the flooding of all the lands south of the city, making them impassable to the enemy. This defensive measure was deployed in 1870, when Strasbourg was besieged by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n forces during the Franco-Prussian War, and resulted in the complete flooding of the northern part of the suburb of Neudorf. The barrage has 13 arches and is in length. Within the structure an enclosed corridor links the two banks and a

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas reliefs, tombsto ...

serves to display ancient

plaster cast A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a pregnant belly, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – ...

s and copies of

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s and

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry wall ...

s from

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', german: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or ''Straßburger Münster''), also known as Strasbourg ...

and Palais Rohan. Three of the arches are raised to permit navigation, and the corridor is carried across these by

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

s. The roof was rebuilt in 1965-66 in order to construct the panoramic terrace. Admission to the barrage and terrace is free, and they are open daily from 09:00 to 19:30. The

Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) is an art museum in Strasbourg, France, which was founded in 1973 and opened in its own building in November 1998. One of the largest of its ...

and the '' Commanderie Saint-Jean'', now home to the prestigious ''

École Nationale d'Administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

'', are both adjacent to the northern end of the barrage. The headquarters (''Hôtel du Département'') of the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

department is by the southern end.

Gallery

BarrageVauban1750.png, An image of the upstream side of the barrage from 1750 Rear of Barrage Vauban.jpg, Upstream side of the barrage showing the stonework Barrage Vauban interior 2.JPG, The internal corridor Strasbourg, Barrage Vauban 01.JPG, Statues from Palais Rohan in the lapidarium Strasbourg, Barrage Vauban 04.JPG, Statues from Strasbourg Cathedral in the lapidarium Strasbourg, France, Ponts Couverts seen from Barrage Vauban.jpg, View of part of the ''Ponts Couverts'' and Petite France from the terrace

References

External links

Barrage Vauban
on archi-wiki.org {{in lang, fr
Bridges in France Buildings and structures completed in 1690 Fortifications in France Monuments historiques of Strasbourg Tourist attractions in Strasbourg Weirs in France 1690 establishments in France