Fort de la Chartreuse

Fort de la Chartreuse
Part of Fortifications of Liège
Liège, Belgium

Fortified bridge, Fort de la Chartreuse
Fort de la Chartreuse
Coordinates 50°37′54″N 5°35′46″E / 50.631688°N 5.596161°E / 50.631688; 5.596161
Type Fort
Site information
Owner State of Belgium
Controlled by Belgium
Open to
the public
Yes
Condition Abandoned, parkland
Site history
Built 1817 (1817)
Materials Masonry
Battles/wars Battle of Liège
Fort de la Chartreuse on Mont Cornillon (high and to the right

The Fort de la Chartreuse, which dominates the Amercœur neighborhood of Liège in Belgium, was built between 1817 and 1823 to defend the city.

History

The fort is built on a strategic height that dominates the valley of the Meuse, which had been occupied by a Carthusian (Ordre des Chartreux) monastery until the French Revolution. The fort was built by the Dutch, who at the time administered southern Belgium.

Plan, Fort de la Chartreuse
A redan of the Fort de la Chartreuse

The fort was abandoned as a fortification by the military in 1891 and was thereafter used as a barracks. From 1914 to 1918 the Germans used it as a prison, and again from 1940 to 1944. In 1944-1945 it was used by the Americans as a military hospital. The Belgian army left the site in 1988.

Environment

The greater part of the fort occupies a green space that is being reforested. The ramparts and glacis are covered with vegetation.

See also

Sources

Bibliography

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