Fort de Brégançon
Situated in the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas, the Fort de Brà © gançon
stands on a rocky peak that was for many centuries separated from the shore of the Mediterranean by a few fathoms of sea. Because of its geographic position, this islet must have been
occupied from very early times, as a lookout point guarding the entrances to Hyères and Toulon. Split off from the Brà © gançon estate in 1786, the Fort remained the
property of the State, which rented it out to various private citizens, the last of whom was Monsieur Bellanger, former Navy Minister under the Third Republic. Finding the Fort in a state
of advanced dilapidation, M. Bellanger restored and refurbished it, preserving its original external aspect. When M. Bellanger's lease expired in 1963, the State took back possession of
the Fort.
On August 25, 1964, General de Gaulle, who had come to preside over the ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the Allied landings in Provence, spent the night at Brà © gançon, which had been hastily made ready for the occasion. By decision of January 5, 1968, the Fort was named an official residence of the President of the Republic. Pierre-Jean Guth, architecte de la Marine Nationale and Grand Prix de Rome, converted the Fort into a pleasant residence while preserving the remains of the old fortress.
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