Porte de Bourgogne - Charleville-Mézières

The Porte de Bourgogne stands on the site of the Porte de l'Image , which was created at the end of the 13th century when the city walls of Mézières were extended to the east to encompass the new Entre-deux-Ponts district.

The Porte de l'Image was replaced by the Porte de Bourgogne when a citadel was built between April 1591 and October 1593 by the Maréchal de Saint-Paul, leader of the League, to protect the city from an attack by Henri de la Tour Vicomte de Turenne, Prince of Sedan and member of the Huguenots. This gate was protected by a crescent and there was a drawbridge over the road to Burgundy.

Between 1675 and 1698, Vauban completed the fortifications around the city. The Burgundian Gate was enlarged, its roof removed and a bastion built outside the moat surrounding the ramparts (now located between the canalised bypass and the railway line).

In 1884, the stronghold of Mézières was dismantled and at the same time a canalised diversion of the Meuse was dug and a lock built under the gate . The bridge in its extension was removed together with the road. The army used the citadel from the end of the 13th century until 1954 , when it transferred the land to the city, where housing and administrative buildings were built in the 1960s.

At the end of the 20th century, the canal was widened and the lock rebuilt, removing the crescent. The Vauban bastion was removed and the land was used for housing and businesses around the rue des Sources. Part of the inner wall of the old bastion can be seen along the Voie Verte Trans-Ardennes, which runs in front of the lock.

Willem Vandenameele