It is a trip back in time that the cultural action department of Belfort and historical associations organized on Friday and Saturday. Eight performances in the form of a route through the heart of the citadel, meeting dark corners, usually closed to the public and far from the tour routes. A chronological discovery walk, punctuated by the meeting of the characters who made the history of Belfort.
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Vauban explains his fortifications
From door to door, the participants enter the corridors of time, go back the centuries and immerse themselves in the daily life of Belfortains, staged in a lively and realistic way. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban in person, and in costume, begins the visit. Louis XIV’s military architect leads the participants on the slopes, with a breathtaking view, at nightfall, of the city of the Lion. Ideal for explaining how the fortifications were designed. And what was their role.
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Hold against the Prussians
At the next door, change of period and character. It is about the three successive sieges that shook the city. In particular the longest one, 103 days, just 150 years ago. A French corporal leads the group to the arquebusiers camp, entrenched at the foot of the fortifications. The battle is brewing. We must retaliate against the Prussian army. Defend the city, stand firm at all costs. To escape the artillery fire, visitors are in a hurry to take cover in the underground.
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All in the dungeon!
New door. New era. New conflict. The First World War this time, in the heart of the headquarters of the French army. Icy welcome. We were taken for German spies! The order is given: direction the dungeon and no mercy!
A second of inattention and the intervention of a good soul manages to deliver the group in time. Just on time to get through the last door in history. The one that opens onto the courtyard of the castle and the scenes of jubilation at the time of the Liberation of 1945 and the arrival of the Americans alongside the Allied troops …
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