Traveling in France: The Great War (Part 4 of 6)

Our tour of the Great War continues, with a side trip.

As we traveled westward from Verdun, we stopped over in the town of Sedan near the Belgian border and visited the Château Fort de Sedan.  

The château in Sedan was fascinating.  Here, the word château means castle or fortress, not mansion or house with vineyard.  The medieval castle is just what you might imagine.  The castle sits atop a tall bluff overlooking the town and Meuse river below.  It has very high, very thick outer walls surrounded by a moat (the moat is dry).  The outer walls surround the castle's inner buildings, some of which are topped with ramparts for archers and artillery.  The inner buildings also include slits for archers to shoot from relative safety.

Construction on the site started in 11th century with a small church dedicated to St. Martin atop the bluff.   Starting in the 15th century, the bluff, because of its defensive character, was progressively fortified over the centuries with ever higher and thicker walls to resist attack and protect the lords, dukes and princes who lived there.  

Not only was the castle fortified, the entire town of Sedan was fortified during the 1600's and 1700's.  Below is a model of the town showing the state of fortifications in 1830.  

We enjoyed touring the castle, entering through a fortified gate and climbing the inner walkway to the upper levels of the castle, where we entered a large inner courtyard.  

In the courtyard, we discovered the foundation of the former church first built on the site.  The church was demolished in 1822.

The castle is home to a museum that recounts the castle's long history.

Above, Greg's brother Mike stands next to a knight's armor. 
A larger size will be needed to fit Mike.

The museum has several scenes with wax mannequins depicting everyday life in the castle and important moments in Sedan's history.  Some of the scenes are set in one of the castle's towers, 

On the upper floor of the tower, a noble family at leisure. 

On a lower floor of the tower, in the kitchen, someone is scolded for feeding the cat.  

The tower had some interesting features.  Originally, the tower had a single wall.  With improvements in artillery, a thick outer wall was added.

This photo shows the thickness of the outer wall of the tower. 

In this scene, soldiers peer through an arrow slit.  

The museum has other scenes, which depict important moments in Sedan's history, including a marriage that resulted in Sedan becoming a Protestant stronghold on the border of France for about a century.

Pop Quiz:  Where did the name of Cadillac's Sedan de Ville automobile originate?  In the French town of Sedan, of course.  

While visiting the fort, we spotted a plaque near one of the gates (pictured below).  After reading the plaque, we realized that we had not actually taken a side trip from our tour of the Great War.  

During a nearly two year period during the Great War, the German occupied the fort and used it as a prison and place of execution.   According to the plaque, between January 1917 and November 1918, thousands of French and Belgian civilians who were part of the Resistance met their deaths at the top of this citadel. This memorial plaque honors them as well as 180,000 deportees, 30,000 dead, and 8,000 shot between 1914 and 1918. "Let us erase the hatred but keep the memory!"

Thanks for visiting the Château Fort de Sedan with us.  

Next Up:  The Battle of the Somme.