MONUMENTS AND FORTIFICATIONS

Château Louis XI

It is one of the three castles built by Louis XI when France conquered Burgundy. In 1493 Auxonne became a border town with the Treaty of Senlis. The fortress evolved over the course of the centuries in line with the progress of the artillery, from 1480 until 1870. Inside, the buildings date mostly from the sixteenth century, except, on the left, a barracks built by Vauban in 1688 to house the companies of Invalides guarding the castle. On the right a two-storey building served as housing for the "Governor of the City and Castle of Auxonne". Since the dismantling of Beaune Castle in 1602 and the destruction of Dijon Castle in the 19th century, it is the only castle of this type still preserved in Burgundy.

Arsenal

It is a set of buildings built by Vauban in 1690 to serve as an artillery arsenal.

Carriages, carts, boxes and all that was necessary for servicing the guns was made in these huge wood and brick sheds. Three monumental Sampans (Jura) stone gates, with weapons trophies surrounding the King’s coat of arms, closed off this place where companies of workers worked from 1690 to 1845. The establishment was very prosperous: it was there that solid material was manufactured according to standards adopted by all the arsenals of France until 1845, when it was transferred to Besançon. The Auxonne Arsenal is one of the few Vauban arsenals preserved in its entirety.

Fortifications

It was during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) that great works were built which heralded the bastions (1635 and 1636). When the Count of Aspremont died, Vauban succeeded him in managing the works. He completed the unfinished bastions and attached them to the body of the square, replaced the old curtain walls and endowed Auxonne with the indispensable buildings of the barracks, the guardhouse and the Arsenal.

Even today, it is possible to follow almost all the edges of the fortifications and to discover the bastions and towers still present in the landscape of Auxonne: the Bastion Royal and Bastion du Béchaux (near Port Royal), the Bastion du Pont, the Bastion du Moineau (South side), the Porte de Comté (East), the Porte Royale (North) and the Tour du Signe (North).

Porte de Comté

It is the East entrance to the City. Built in 1503 by Louis XII, it was part of a horseshoe-shaped boulevard which was replaced in 1673 by a small bastion, but the Count d'Aspremont kept this beautiful door by placing it on the shoulder of the bastion. It remained the main entrance to the city on the county side. The bastion and the half-moon were demolished in 1905 and the land was sold to build the Quartier Neuf and a square was built around the door.

Porte Royale

It's the North entrance to the City. It was started by the Count d'Aspremont and was completed by Vauban.

The classical architecture of the door illustrates its triumphal aspect: a trophy of weapons bearing the royal coat of arms sits atop the countryside opening. At the back, the two pavilions set at right angles are perfectly symmetrical and the Mansart roofs were fashionable at the time.