Fort Moselle, Military fort in Metz, France

Fort Moselle is a bastioned fort begun in July 1728 on the left bank of the Moselle, north-east of Metz's centre, to a design by Louis de Cormontaigne. Its dry ditches and bastions enclosed hangars, military stores, an infantry barracks and a military hospital built between 1732 and 1734, plus a cavalry barracks of 1742-1753. The dry ditches were later deepened and flooded when the canal was cut, so the fort and its neighbours now sit on an artificial island between river and canal, served by six bridges.

Louis de Cormontaigne, Vauban's pupil and director of fortresses, built Fort Moselle between 1728 and 1731 to cover the Moselle front northwest of Metz. Marshal de Belle-Isle laid a medal bearing his name and arms in the first stone on 29 June 1728, and twenty battalions camped at Ban-Saint-Martin dug the earthworks. Barracks, magazines and a military hospital followed between 1732 and 1734, a cavalry barracks from 1742 to 1753.

The fort's name survives in the LeMet' bus stop Fort Moselle near its historic site, and the land it occupied is now an artificial island between the Moselle and the canal cut through its former dry moats. The military church Saint-Simon-Saint-Jude was built in 1737 on the Place de France, laid out for drills of the two neighbouring barracks.

Fort Moselle lies north-east of Metz's centre, on the left bank of the Moselle, on the artificial island formed when the canal was cut through the fort's dry ditches; the area is served by the LeMet' bus stop named Fort Moselle. The fort itself is not open for visits, so the site is seen from the surrounding streets and bridges — Pont-des-Morts, Pont de fer, pont Éblé, Pont de Thionville, Pont Jean Monnet and pont Louis Faidherbe.

The fort's dry ditches were deepened and flooded in the 20th century when the canal was dug west of Metz, turning the stronghold into an artificial island served by six bridges, among them the Pont-des-Morts and the Pont de fer. The bus stop Fort Moselle of the LeMet' network keeps the name alive near the historic site.