Fort de Châtillon (Paris)

Fort de Châtillon
Part of Fortifications of Paris, Séré de Rivières system
Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
German post card showing the fortifications of Paris
Fort de Châtillon
Coordinates	48°47′26″N 2°16′34″E / 48.7906°N 2.27611°E / 48.7906; 2.27611Coordinates: 48°47′26″N 2°16′34″E / 48.7906°N 2.27611°E / 48.7906; 2.27611
Type	Fort
Site information
Owner	Centre d'Études Nucléaires de Fontenay-aux-Roses
Controlled by	France
Condition	Demolished
Site history
Built	1870 (1870)
Materials	Stone, brick
Demolished	1957-1977
Battles/wars	Siege of Paris
Garrison information
Occupants	CEN-FAR

The Fort de Châtillon was a fortification located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Paris in the communes of Châtillon-sous-Bagneux and Fontenay-aux-Roses. It was built in 1874 and was razed beginning in 1957, making way for expansion of the French nuclear research facility at Fontenay-aux-Roses.

The fort was named for the town it was designed to protect, Châtillon-sous-Bagneux, but the greater portion of the site is actually within Fontenay-aux-Roses. The main entry and the portions in Châtillon were destroyed at the end of the Second World War.

The site was first fortified during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, when the redoubt of Châtillon was built by the inhabitants of the town. The works allowed the French to slow the Prussian advance on the capital and was the scene of violent combat. After the war the site was selected for further fortification as part of the Séré de Rivières system ring of fortifications around Paris. Construction on the new pentagonal fort started in 1874, not far from the old redoubt. Unlike other Parisian fortifications, the new fort was designed for action in all directions, as the location commanded much of the surrounding region. The barracks, believed to have been in three levels, were located at the center, surrounded by walls defended by a ditch and caponiers. The fort featured a number of internal traverses, mounded dikes intended as shelters against low-angle shellfire from a variety of directions.

Nearby was the Coupure de Châtillon, a fortified ditch about 150 metres (490 ft) to the northeast of the Fort de Châtillon, defended by artillery batteries. With the Fort de Châtillon, the defenses denied the use of the Châtillon hill to an enemy who might dominate the nearby Forts de Montrouge, Issy and Vanves. The coupure consisted of eighteen traverses covered by artillery and defended by caponiers in the ditch. The entire fortification has vanished with the encroachment of urbanization.

The fort saw no particular action during the Second World War. After the French Liberation, accused collaborators Joseph Darnand and Jean Hérold-Paquis were executed by firing squad at the fort.