Saint Elme Citadel
The Saint Elme Citadel is a 16th century fortification located in Villefranche-sur-Mer, a French commune of the Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur on the French Rivera near the southeastern border of Italy. Commissioned by the Duke of Savoy in 1557 to protect his territory against enemy invasion, this immense citadel rests on the edge of a natural deep- water marine harbor.
In the 16th century, when the Spanish Emperor and King of France vied for power in Italy, the lands ruled by the Dukes of Savoy formed France’s principle access into Italy, prompting frequent French invasions. The Siege of Nice by the Franco-Turks in 1543 demonstrated the increased vulnerability of the sovereignty of Savoy on the Mediterranean coast. After 1557, the Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Phillibert, empowered by fortunes acquired in battles with France, commissioned new strongholds and a naval harbor to protect Villefranche and Nice from enemy invasion.
The Italian engineer Gian Maria Olgiatti designed the citadel to withstand future attacks by reinforcing the ramparts with dirt and employing curved bastions without a dead angle. The fort is a trapezium form, a design that increased the ability of the Citadel to counter the aggressive mobility of modern armaments and iron projectiles. The fortification has two levels, an upper part that protects the entrance and inner buildings and a lower part that protects the harbor. A rocky ditch surrounds the fort and an aqueduct provides fresh water.
Protected from sea attacks, the fort still succumbed to land sieges. Engineers built Fort Mont Alban on a hill above the Citadel to provide additional land defense, but it was easily overcome in a siege. The French gained possession of the citadel several times from 1691 to 1792.
In 1860, France annexed the territory of Savoy by treaty and used the Citadel in Villefranche as a military base. After War World II the military abandoned the base and the fort deteriorated. Classified as an historic structure in 1968 and restored in 1979, the Citadel now houses a city hall, conference center, amphitheater, and four museum spaces dedicated to cultural history and the visual arts.
Researched and written by Virginia Vanneman, Graduate Student in the Department of History, University of West Florida.
