FortressPorquerolles

Fort de la Repentance

The Fort can be visited

Fort de la Repentance is a French military structure located on Porquerolles Island (Var), built in the 19th century. Today it is an Orthodox monastery.

History of the fort+

In 1859, Commander Millot, battalion chief of the Engineers, reported that "the possession of the islands of Porquerolles and Port-Cros is indispensable to the enemy for the peaceful occupation of the two roadsteads and for the establishment of its depots, stores, and hospitals. The works created or to be created must be able to oppose a landing on these islands and on the peninsula." Thus, in 1874, the specialized commission of the Coastal Defense Committee, created in 1872 and chaired by General Séré de Rivières, proposed building a fort on Porquerolles Island. The clearing and leveling of the Repentance site began in 1880. In 1881, the proposal to build the "Fort de Repentance" was confirmed. It would be armed with nine 190 mm cannons, to cover the Porquerolles roadstead and the south of the Hyères roadstead. Approval was signed on August 24 of the same year. Construction of the works began in 1882 under the responsibility of Captain Marinier. The project evolved towards the construction of two semi-buried batteries, armed with 4 x 240 mm guns each, the Repentance North and Repentance Center batteries. Construction continued in 1883. The works were treated as enclosed batteries with a ditch flanked by bastionets to account for their isolation. The central battery included 4 x 240 mm guns with a central traverse shelter, an underground powder magazine, a kitchen, a cistern, and a bakery. It served as a living base for the entire position. In 1885, the appearance of the torpedo shell, a steel device loaded with chemical explosives, called into question the value of the fortifications. A battery was built in 1888. This included 6 x 95 mm coastal guns on masonry and reinforced concrete positions. In 1894, excavation work began in both batteries for underground rock powder magazines to protect ammunition. On January 20, 1989, the fort was listed as a historical monument.

Conversion to a monastery+

The Romanian Orthodox monastic community of the Saint John Cassian parish in Aix-en-Provence took over the fort to turn it into a monastery. Represented by Father Vasile, who succeeded Father Seraphim, they undertook the restoration work on the building. It has now become the "Saint Mary of the Desert" monastery.