Fort Boyard threatens to collapse, a call for donations launched to save it

The famous Fort Boyard threatens to collapse. The Charente-Maritime department launched a call for donations this Tuesday, December 17, to ensure the protection of the fortification.

A monument threatened with collapse. Fort Boyard, in Charente-Maritime, has suffered from attacks from the Atlantic Ocean for decades. To ensure its preservation, the department, owner of the fort, launched an appeal for donations this Tuesday, December 17. Nine million euros are to be found.

Work, planned from 2025 to 2028, aims to restore the defensive elements of the fort, classified as a historic monument. Concretely, “the repair of the very degraded embankment which surrounds the structure, as well as the restoration of a docking harbor to the south-east and a spur to the north-west” are planned, specifies the Heritage Foundation , associated with the mobilization campaign.

Work faithful to “historical design”

Built at the beginning of the 19th century, and made famous by the television program “Fort Boyard” on France Télévisions, the fort was from its origins protected by these ramparts against the swell, destroyed by the ocean over time.

The project to reconstruct these protective structures will be done “identically to the historic design”, underlines the department. A colossal project worth 36.6 million euros. 27.6 are financed by the department and the State. The call for donations should make it possible to find the remaining nine million.

“If nothing is done, the future of the fort is ruin”

The “stone vessel” has already suffered significant damage from waves and storms.

“We find cracks inside the fort. If nothing is done, the future of the fort is ruin,” assures Mathieu Barbier, deputy director of water, sea and coast. of Charente-Maritime.

Following the work, Fort Boyard will open to the general public from 2028.