Fort de la Chartreuse


The Fort de la Chartreuse, which dominates the Amercœur neighborhood of Liège in Belgium, was built between 1817 and 1823 to defend the city.

History

The fort is built on a strategic height that dominates the valley of the Meuse, which had been occupied by a Carthusian monastery until the French Revolution. The fort was built by the Dutch, who at the time administered southern Belgium.
The fort was abandoned as a fortification by the military in 1891 and was thereafter used as a barracks. From 1914 to 1918 the Germans used it as a prison, and again from 1940 to 1944. In 1944-1945 it was used by the Americans as a military hospital. The Belgian army left the site in 1988.

Environment

The greater part of the fort occupies a green space that is being reforested. The ramparts and glacis are covered with vegetation.