THE CITADEL
At the end of the 15th century, under the reign of the Duke of Brittany François II, the fishing village acquired new importance. The Duke decided in 1486 to build a tower in that little town ” to keep the cannon blast ” and to be in a dominant position regarding the protection of the entrance to the cove. But, François II died without putting that project into execution. Without any protection, the city (Blavet) was burned in the year 1588 by the English and on June 11, 1590, at the time of the League wars, the inhabitants of Blavet intervened for the benefit of the King of France.
The Duke of Mercoeur requests aid in troops and in money together with the Spanish. Felipe II, King of Spain, consented to grant them on the condition that he may receive, as a stronghold, a port at the mouth of the river Blavet.
On August 25, 1590, his lieutenant, Don Diego de Brochero, introduced a squad in the city of Blavet where, in October, Don Juan de Aguila, Brigadier General, came to meet him with three thousand men.
This is how, more than a hundred years later, the projects of Duke François II are implemented.
Construction: first period (1590 – 1598)
the beginning of the citadelNot only does Don Juan del Aguila rectify the entrenchments of the city, he lays the first stone of the fortress named after his name: Fuerte del Aguila . In the month of December 1590, according to the plans of the engineer Cristobal de Rojas , the construction began, considered as well as finished, in the month of February 1591, but it does not include more than the tower, so bastions III and IX still devoid of their outer earmuffs that are added a short time behind. The large moat is already digging, so a palisade that protects the promenade and from where a chain stretches to the rock of La Yegua.
In March 1598, the Duke of Mercoeur gave up on the King of France Henri IV. Later, the king ordered the Marshal of Brissac to invent, in his name, the city of Blavet, but he did not have to fight because, on June 5, peace was signed in Vervins. In July 1598, de Brissac began, under the order of Henri IV, and, despite him, the demolition of the Aguila fort, which he considered ” as an inestimable round trip “.
That demolition job is never entirely finished. However, the wall of the citadel that extends along the passage so that the part of the old town that borders the sea is completely destroyed.
red
At the beginning of the 17th century, bastions III and IX, the tower and the chapel remain standing in the citadel at the most, which must therefore be attributed to the first period of construction.