Tour 46, Former fortification tower and museum in Belfort, France
Tour 46 is a former fortification tower in Belfort, France, built as part of a pentagon-shaped defensive wall with five corner towers. The structure is made of solid stone and still shows the form of a bastion tower, with thick walls designed to withstand artillery fire.
The tower was built at the end of the 17th century, when the military engineer Vauban redesigned Belfort's defenses in 1687 after France took control of the city. In 1971, Tour 46 and the nearby Tour 41 were officially listed as protected historical sites.
The tower's name comes from the number Vauban assigned to it, a numbering system the city has kept to this day. This gives the building a straightforward identity that reflects its military origin rather than any symbolic renaming.
The museum inside Tour 46 is open to visitors, not permanently closed. Reach it by train from Belfort's centre station, bus no. 2 to the République stop, by bike, or by car from Mulhouse via Glacis-du-château or from Besançon via Bavilliers/Danjoutin. The entrance is through the large arched doorway beneath the plaque reading "TOUR 46".
The tower now houses temporary exhibitions, not a permanent museum. Of Vauban's five corner towers, only three survive with modifications: numbers 27, 41 and 46. The plaque above the entrance reads "TOUR 46", keeping Vauban's 17th-century numbering visible to passers-by.
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