Fort de La Prée, built in 1625, is located near the eastern end of the Île de Ré. It was built by Royalist Army after they conquered the are from Huguenots during the Wars of Religion. They used materials salvaged from the remains of the Romanesque abbey of the Châteliers'.
The Duke of Buckingham ignored Fort de La Prée during his three-month siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1627. This neglect turned out to be a strategic error. Toiras managed to land troops there, and from there force the English to give up their siege and withdraw in defeat.
The fort subsequently underwent modifications under the oversight of several engineers: François Blondel (1664), Louis-Nicolas de Clerville (1672), Le Favolière, and finally Sainte-Colombe (1676). They added the gate, a barracks for 200 soldiers outside the walls, and some other outside works.
In 1685, Vauban, the preeminent engineer of the time, had François Ferr raze parts of the original fort, particularly the keep and the outworks that enclosed the entire fort.
The fort was later abandoned before being re-established in 1793. During the latter part of the 19th century, the external barracks were demolished. In 1875, the fort's covered way had sheltered passages added. The fort was decommissioned circa 1900.
During World War II the Germans occupied the fort. They added some blockhouses in the ramparts and on the seafront. From 1948, the fort became the administrative block for a development of vacations homes, but was closed in 1977.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.