Cité Vauban — Attraction in Briançon

Oozing charm on an exceptional hilltop, surrounded by higher snowcapped peaks from all sides and hanging over five overgrown gorges, Briancon is a small Alpine town in the Grand Serre Chevalier skiing region. Briancon’s Ville Basse is dominated by Av du General de Gaulle (on its southern edge, one finds the train and bus stations) that cuts across the Durance River and twists abruptly to meet the uphill boulevard of Av de la Republique. Climbing up Av de la Republique or its older twin Chemin Vieux is not for the faint-hearted; both leave you breathless even before you reach the top. Instead, one can take the bus that connects the train station with Place du Champ de Mars and deposits you right outside the Vielle Ville. Briancon’s Vielle Ville is nothing more than Vauban’s 18th-century creation. An architectural genius and a military colossus, Vauban fortified the town with a ring of thick walls and lofty ramparts, impenetrable at that time and age and still intact today. The uppermost edge of Rue de la Republique is crowned with the Porte d’Embrun, a daunting gateway complete with huge prison-like doors and still topped with Vauban’s military insignia. The other gateway, north of the Vielle Ville and accessible from Place du Champ de Mars is Porte de Pignerol, another grand stone portal more daunting than the first. Once protected by the walls, walk at random along the tiny passageways and back streets that slope up (or down, whichever direction you take) the Old Town quarter. The Grand Rue is Briancon’s main walkway, a long narrow steeping street crammed with interesting old houses and small nostalgic shops and split into two by a stone drainway that runs along its full length gushing down a nonstop stream of mountain water. Just west of the Grand Rue on Place du Temple is the office de tourisme housed in what is perhaps the oldest and most charismatic medieval workplace in France. Opposite the tourist office stands the pretty parish Church of Notre Dame et St Nicholas, another of Vauban’s creations. Apart from a painted sundial, its twin-towered exterior is austere and plain but its interior is a showcase of florid Baroque that includes a collection of trompe l’oeils, several wall frescoes and plenty of gilded wood sculptures, particularly around the high altar and in the side chapels. The Dauphine coat of arms dominates the centre. East of Grand Rue, the maze of back streets and alleyways is still unrestored and the buildings are tumbledown specimens. Yet the untouched ambience reminiscent of medieval times is alive and ready to be discovered. It is along these streets that you meet the real Vielle Ville as it was three centuries ago. The Cordeliers Church and Monastery is one...

The old city center does not offer anything shocking, it is even quite boring. Everything is concentrated on one street, everything else is a mixture of old and renovated. Many medieval cities look better. However, if we look wider, in the context of the former defensive fortresses (tribute to master Vauban) in the city area, the picture is more varied. Despite being Monday, the parking lots and the main street were very crowded, I spent more than 1 hour parking - quite a bit from the old part of the city. The tour of the walls offers beautiful panoramas, but I was very disturbed by the excessive dog feces - disgusting and smelly - shame...

If someone asks you what it is a Vauban-type fortress a visit to Briançon gives the answer much better than many pages of reading. Here you see the star shaped walls and ramparts, leaving no dead angles for the artillery and exposing any attacking force to deadly fire from crossed positions. A quintessential Vauban masterpiece. This strong position would cross fire with many other nearby fortresses, making this alpine crossing totally impregnable. The town is very lively and I found some interesting historic re-enactments going on at the time of my visit. Great views to the...