Landmark
La Citadelle de Villefranche-sur-Mer
17 Pl. Emmanuel Philibert, La Citadelle, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer
Sixteenth-century bastioned fortress overlooking a harbor deep enough to hide submarines.
This guide to La Citadelle de Villefranche-sur-Mer opens with engineer Gian Maria Olgiati sketching a new kind of fortress in the 1550s, after a pirate fleet's cannon fire exposed how fragile the old straight-walled defenses were. It follows the Duke of Savoy's decision to rebuild the coast's defenses with angled bastions designed so no wall left a blind spot, finished in 1557. Stand on the ramparts and look straight down into the harbor while you listen.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.