Citadelle de Sisteron

Sisteron

A natural lock between the Dauphiné and Provence, the rock of Sisteron has carried fortifications since Antiquity: a Vocontian stronghold was destroyed there in 27 BC, before a Roman castrum and then an early medieval castle occupied the site. The earliest documented mentions of the present fortress date back to the 11th–12th centuries; the wall-walk and the keep date from the 12th century. From 1209, the citadel guarded the strategic passage between the Dauphiné and Provence. Between 1590 and 1597, the engineer Jean Errard, in the service of Henry IV, modernised the defences on a saw-tooth system; in 1692, Vauban in his turn drew up a vast plan of fortification. On 7 March 1815, Napoleon I passed through the town on his return from Elba, making his way through this lock of the southern Alps. One of the citadel's dizzying lookout posts is nicknamed the "Devil's Sentry Box"; the fortifications were restored in the 20th century. From the wall-walk, the view takes in the Durance gap and the rooftops of the old town below.

Getting there : On foot from the town centre of Sisteron (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) by a steep road; admission charge, open from March to November depending on the season, wall-walk and keep open to visitors

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound