This powerful stopping fort had a triple role: to act as a pivot for an army coming from the citadel to garrison the south-eastern ridges of the plateau, to provide protection for an army retreating towards the plateau and to control the Culmont-Chalindrey railway junction located on the Paris-Basel and Dijon-Nancy lines. It consisted of an envelope designed to keep watch over the nearby terrain and a reduction housing the barracks, shops and artillery for distant action. Capable of defending itself on all fronts (unlike the wide-open belt forts around Langres), the reduction was very compact. Its architecture was particularly well thought out, and it was equipped with rare examples - for the time - of countercarp chests designed to flank the ditches. Spared from the fighting, the Cognelot fort bears witness to the latest developments in monumental masonry fortification.
Owned by the Communauté de Communes des Savoir-Faire, the fort can be visited.
For individual visits: no booking required, timetables on the linked site.
For groups, please book with Séverine Villessot on 06 79 34 92 68 or by email :
effortcognelot@gmail.com
Fort du Cognelot
