THE RAMPARTS OF MÉZIÈRES

Camped on a rocky spur in a loop of the Meuse, the village of Mézières had a natural water defence. In order to ensure complete protection, the tour of the town was carried out by digging ditches where the Meuse was not. The town was taken after Waterloo and, 55 years later, again, after Sedan, on ¹ January 1871. During this last capture, the fortress did not show the slightest effectiveness against the modern artillery: 70% of the town was destroyed in 1870, and the Prussians settled there for three years. The inhabitants then demanded that the fortress be dismantled, which was done at the beginning of 1880. Only the citadel survived until the aftermath of the Second World War, in 1954, when the army ceded it to the city and it was razed to the ground. Only medieval remains of ramparts and towers remain - the Milard Tower, the King's Tower, the Burgundy Gate is still standing, surrounded by contemporary buildings.