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France proposes 14 Vauban citadels for coveted World Heritage status

PARIS -- France has submitted 14 citadels and fortifications built by Marshal Vauban, the 17th-century military engineer, for a place on Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites [to mark the tricentenary of his death]...

The 14 sites include the French port city of Saint-Malo and its fortifications, left; a royal fort on the Brittany island of Belle Île, renovated by Vauban in 1689; the citadel in the eastern town of Besançon; and a mountain fort in southeastern Briançon.

They were selected as some of the best preserved of about 150 fortified sites built by Vauban across France, a formidable legacy of walled towns, bridges and coastal observation towers.
Read entire article at AFP