Fort de Leucate, Military fortress in Leucate, France.

Fort de Leucate is a ruined stone fortification in Leucate, Aude, of which only remnants remain after its demolition in 1665. The surviving masonry is built of rough light gray and tan blocks, with a wide low arch of rectangular stones framing a shadowed passage beside a smaller recessed doorway. Above the arch the wall rises in an uneven curve, ending in a jagged mass of exposed stone.

Leucate became a border town in the Middle Ages, and its castle was the counterpart of Salses on the Spanish side. A wooden keep was soon rebuilt in stone, and a second stone enclosure was added in the 13th century. In 1590 Françoise de Cézelly led a resistance during a siege. After the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees the castle lost its strategic value and was demolished by 1665.

The fort's name comes from Leucate, a border town between the kingdoms of France and Spain. Its most famous episode is the 1590 siege, when Françoise de Cézelly led the resistance and became a local heroine. The site was inscribed as a monument historique in 2006.

The site is accessible via Rue Verlaine in Leucate and offers different entry points depending on which section you want to explore. Keep in mind that different administrative authorities manage various parts, which may affect visitor access and opening conditions.

This fortress represents one of the earliest examples of bastioned fortification design in Europe, showing how military structures adapted to artillery warfare. Its innovative approach influenced the design of other defensive structures built around the same period.