Fortress of Charlemont, Military fortress in Givet, France.

The Fortress of Charlemont stands on a rocky promontory overlooking the Meuse valley with extensive fortifications and underground passages. The entire system stretches across around 2.5 kilometers and links multiple defensive points together.

Charles V ordered the fort built after 1554 to protect Givet and the Meuse corridor, naming it for himself; an Italian engineer, Donato de Boni di Pellizuoli, chose the site. William of Orange had it extended west from 1555, and Vauban reworked the defences after France gained the fort by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. In 1815 its garrison under General Bourke held out for six months against a Prussian siege before capitulating.

The fortress reflects French military architecture, especially through the Maugis Tower and a network of outer works linked to forts Givet and Mont d'Hours. Visitors can explore these connections and understand how the defensive system was organized.

The fort sits on a limestone spur above Givet, reached on foot from the town; the south front is a cliff dropping 80 metres to the Meuse, so the climb is steep. The Séré de Rivières works of 1888 added a shelter and a stair of several hundred steps cut through the rock down to the railway tunnel. Allow time for the walk and wear shoes with grip.

The fort's name means "Charles's mount", after Charles V, who had the Agimont-Givet county bought by his sister Mary of Hungary to control the Meuse corridor. The site reused an unfinished 15th-century castle, and a plague epidemic during the works killed Maarten van Rossum, commander of the imperial army.