Fort de La Prée

The fort of La Pree is a fortress built on the order of Toiras in 1625 by engineers of Pierre de Conty Argencour and Le Camus, located in the town of Fleet, between Rivedoux-Plage and La Flotte on the north coast the island of Ré in Charente-Maritime.

Star with four bastions, two facing the sea, connected by curtains half circle (cul-de-pot), doubled by an outer wall and a covered walkway, it has a small port open to the east. It was built in part with materials taken from the ruins of Our Lady of St. Mary of the Chatelier nearby. Its design was heavily criticized in 1658 by the Governor of the island for its size too small, scheduled for only 400 men but also made vulnerable by a lack of drinking water. Changes were undertaken at the behest of Colbert in 1664 and an additional speaker built in 1672.

The fortification of St. Martin-de-Ré has been completed, and it always decried high, Vauban in 1684 shaved all the outer fortifications, leaving only the original Star simply protected by a covered way and glacis. Long abandoned, the work is reset in 1793, changed again in 1875 and finally decommissioned in 1934.

As part of the Atlantic Wall during World War II, the occupying army is a blockhouse built in 1942 Observation and battery "Berta". It is currently owned by the National Committee of Social Works of the prison, which ensured the restoration by inmates in the 80's, visits are organized in the summer and the location of the site for festivals and events and restoration projects "bulwark" are held each year to save the site.

For history, the Duke of Buckingham in 1627 when it landed on the island, this neglected fort which was fatal, since in October 1627 made possible the landing nightlife of the French army commanded by Toiras and allowed to take the English side and drive them from the island.