Briançon: France's Highest City, Vauban's Walls and the Asfeld Bridge
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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Asfeld Bridge Crosser
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300
XP
+100 France
= 400 total
2 days
Briançon: France's Highest City, Vauban's Walls and the Asfeld Bridge
300 + 100 XP
At 1,326 m Briançon is the highest town in France and in the European Union, and the walled city, the ring of forts and the bridge that hold the road to Italy have been UNESCO-listed since 7 July 2008. Vauban drew the plan after his visits of 1692 and 1700, but the forts and the bridge were built between 1721 and 1734 by the marquis d'Asfeld who succeeded him. Inside the walls the Grande Gargouille, the steep main street, carries an open water channel down its middle, and outside them the Pont d'Asfeld leaps the Durance gorge on one arch, 60 m above the river.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk down the Grande Gargouille, the steep main street of the walled city with its open water channel, from the Porte de Pignerol
2
of 4
Cross the Pont d'Asfeld, a single stone arch of 38.60 m thrown across a 40 m gorge sixty metres above the Durance, built from more than two thousand blocks and keyed on 24 August 1730 after 127 days of work on the arch alone; when the timber centring was struck the vault dropped only two inches. Then take the path up to the Fort des Salettes, about 25 minutes of climbing
3
of 4
Stand on the place du Temple below the collegiate church — the only building at Briançon Vauban actually designed, sent up with his letter of July 1703, begun in 1705, abandoned when his own architect absconded with the plans and the advance, and finished in 1718 under Vauban's personal supervision after the man was found — and compare the sundials on its two square towers: the left-hand one, from 1719, is the older and the more baroque
4
of 4
On the Grande Gargouille, find the maison du Pape — the old civil hospital where Pius VI was held after arriving on 30 April 1799, forbidden all contact with the town, before being moved to Valence — then go up to the place d'armes and find both powder magazines, which are listed by UNESCO along with the walls themselves
Walk down the Grande Gargouille, the steep main street of the walled city with its open water channel, from the Porte de Pignerol
Cross the Pont d'Asfeld, a single stone arch of 38.60 m thrown across a 40 m gorge sixty metres above the Durance, built from more than two thousand blocks and keyed on 24 August 1730 after 127 days of work on the arch alone; when the timber centring was struck the vault dropped only two inches. Then take the path up to the Fort des Salettes, about 25 minutes of climbing
Stand on the place du Temple below the collegiate church — the only building at Briançon Vauban actually designed, sent up with his letter of July 1703, begun in 1705, abandoned when his own architect absconded with the plans and the advance, and finished in 1718 under Vauban's personal supervision after the man was found — and compare the sundials on its two square towers: the left-hand one, from 1719, is the older and the more baroque
On the Grande Gargouille, find the maison du Pape — the old civil hospital where Pius VI was held after arriving on 30 April 1799, forbidden all contact with the town, before being moved to Valence — then go up to the place d'armes and find both powder magazines, which are listed by UNESCO along with the walls themselves
Before you go
The Grande Gargouille is steep and cobbled with an open water channel down the middle, so it is hard going with a pushchair and slippery in wet or icy weather; at 1,326 m there can be snow and ice in the walled city well outside winter. The bridge is reached by the 18th-century rock-cut path, not by road, and the climb on to the Fort des Salettes is about 25 minutes uphill. The collegiate church has been under a twenty-year restoration programme since 2017, so parts may be screened off. Park outside the walls — the Cité Vauban is not a place to take a motorhome.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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