Barraux () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Isère

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in southeastern

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 ...

. It includes the hamlets of Le Fayet, La Gache, and the 15th century fort, Fort Barraux.

Location

Barraux has the village of Chapareillan to the north; La Buissiere, Le Boissieu and La Flachere to the south; Pontcharra to the east and Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, on the Plateau des Petites Roches to the west. It is situated in the valley of the Gresivaudan through which the Isère river flows.

Population

The inhabitants of Barraux are called Barrolins.

History (the village)

The village of Barraux was probably founded as part of the

supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...

to feed the fort Barraux built by

Charles Emmanuel II Charles Emmanuel II ( it, Carlo Emanuele II di Savoia); 20 June 1634 – 12 June 1675) was Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 and under regency of his mother Christine of France until 1648. He was also Marquis of Saluzzo, Count of Aosta, Geneva, ...

to act as a border fort. In 1985 the fort was given back to the village of Barraux, from the French army.

History (the fort)

Fort Saint Barthélémy

Fort Saint Barthélémy (eventually Fort Barraux) is the oldest fort using bastions in France. It was built in 1597 and its aspect changed very little over the past 400 years as the general layout invented by the Piedmontese architect

Ercole Negro The male first name Ercole, Italian version of Hercules, can refer to: People * Ercole (name), list of people with the name House of D'Este *Ercole I d'Este (1431–1505), Duke of Ferrara *Ercole II d'Este (1508–1559), Duke of Ferrara, Modena a ...

will be left almost intact by its followers: A fortress with an extended star shape with a narrow end, including many bastions and advanced ditches. The fort was taken by surprise right after its completion by Lesdiguières, the Constable of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

. A few enhancements have been undertaken by the engineers of King Henry IV but didn't affect the general layout. Vauban himself, Fortress Inspector in Chief of

King Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in the late 17th century didn't change the arrangement of bastions and curtains. He would rather improve the various buildings inside the fort: two barracks, the well, the chapel, the large powder magazine and the gate house. In the early 19th century, a casemate was added southward as this section was considered to be the weakest point

17th century

Original held at Bibliothèque Municipale of Grenoble. Talented engineers will improve the fort, but keep the general layout designed by Ercole Negro *Jean de Beins enlarges the fort eastward and builds the Governor Hotel. *Camus builds forward bastions southward *Delangrunne levels the West curtain and extracts the central bastion to form the entrance

ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle ...

(or demi-lune). *Entrance of the fort is moved several times during that century. Initially located on the North front (with an access through the Savoie ravelin), it ends up facing West, where it is still today.

Vauban and the Fort

When Vauban arrived at the fort in 1692 he is extremely negative about what was achieved by its predecessors. He asks for the improvement of the most obvious weaknesses: *Ditches are made 2-meter deeper (6 feet) *Design of bastions is modified with their edges sharpened *Width of covered ways is reduced, their layout is streamlined and profile remodeled. Traverses are cut into them to confine the effect of ricochet fire *Galleries are added inside the flanks of bastions *Watchtowers are remodeled *Communication between the central fort and the ravelin of Savoie is modified with the addition of an open caponniere including parapets and palisades *Curtains of the North and East fronts are enhanced with the addition of light tenailles and palisades *Vauban finally creates the South redoubt

18th to 20th centuries

*The gate house and the magazine were completed in the early 18th century. Two additional barracks were built. *The modern chapel was built in 1724 thanks to a gift from King Louis the Fifteenth on the ruins of the initial chapel from the Renaissance. *Large scale construction resumes circa 1820 with the addition of a

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

on the south front to reinforce its defense. *A cylindrical obstacle called "demoiselle" (Miss), was erected on the top of a traverse that crosses the ditch. Besiegers that would cross this traverse would have to kiss the Miss to bypass it, hence the name. *In the 1870s, unrest with Italy lead to the construction of 6 forts around Grenoble. During the 19th century, defenses of Fort Barraux were also enhanced. *The fort was used as a prison during both world wars; then in 1947, it was turned into an ammunition depot. The fort was left by the military in 1985 and was acquired by the municipality of Barraux. Image:Fort_barraux3.jpg, A

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototype ...

of the

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

entrance Image:Fort_barraux.jpg, A

of the

In popular culture

Barraux is the setting of

ROBLOX ''Roblox'' () is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program games and play games created by other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released i ...

game "BARRAUX", The game was published on 12/4/2021 and is owned by a large

Napoleonic Era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...

group, "Empire Frаnçаis", owned by GeneralGory. Currently, the game has 786.9K+ visits.

Twin towns

Barraux is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Lanhouarneau Lanhouarneau () is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Lanhouarneau are called in French ''Lanhouarnéens''. See also *Communes of the Finistère department The following is ...

, France

References

External links

L'Atelier des Dauphins
(Workshop of the Dauphins)
Isère Tourism BoardOfficial site of the departement of Isère
In French)
Grenoble Tourism Board
English Version Available) {{authority control Communes of Isère Vauban fortifications in France