Fort de Charenton

Fort de Charenton
Part of Thiers fortifications of Paris
Maisons-Alfort, France
Entry, Fort de Charenton
Fort de Charenton is located in Paris and inner ring
Fort de Charenton
Fort de Charenton
Coordinates48°48′32″N 2°25′44″E / 48.808927°N 2.428828°E / 48.808927; 2.428828
TypeFort
Site information
OwnerGendarmerie Nationale Française
Controlled byFrance
Open to
the public
no
ConditionOccupied
Site history
Built1842 (1842)
Battles/warsSiege of Paris
Garrison information
OccupantsGendarmerie nationale

Fort de Charenton is a fortification built in 1842 in the community of Maisons-Alfort, and part of the Paris defences planned by Adolphe Thiers.

After the fall of Napoleon I in 1814, and again after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Paris was occupied by foreign forces. To counter new invasion and occupation, defensive works were planned. In 1841 a new fortified enclosure of Paris was proposed, becoming known as the Thiers wall after its chief proponent, prime minister Adolphe Thiers. The plan involved the construction of a new fortified wall around an expanded Paris, the Thiers wall proper, and the building of sixteen new forts a few kilometers farther out. The Fort de Charenton was planned as part of this system. Presently occupied by the National Gendarmerie, the fort saw passing regiments as well as foreign occupation forces at the time of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the Second World War.