Fort Tavannes, Military fort in Eix, France

Fort Tavannes is a first-generation Séré de Rivières fort on a summit of the Hauts de Meuse at 370 m, in the commune of Eix. It is a broad pentagon with a recessed gorge, built of rubble masonry covered with earth; the northern part of the barracks was reinforced with a 2.5 m concrete shell over a sand layer. Its arched entrance, framed in lighter stone, sits at the centre of a wide curtain wall and is now half-hidden by vegetation.

Construction began in December 1874 under the law of 17 July 1874, making Tavannes the first detached fort of the Verdun belt; the German Wikipedia gives the build as December 1873 to December 1874 at a cost of 1,575,420 francs. Renamed Fort Mouton by Georges Boulanger's decree of 21 January 1887, it reverted to Tavannes that October, though the Boulanger name remains carved on the entrance pediment. In 1916 it withstood 30,000 to 40,000 shells and a few 380 and 420 mm rounds; commander Louis de Champsavin died of exhaustion after the bombardments and gas.

The name Tavannes honours Marshal de Tavannes, first governor of Verdun in 1592, though no village of that name exists; the nearby fountain, chapel and railway tunnel share it. The fort's "Boulanger name" of 1887, Fort Mouton, after General Georges Mouton, is still carved on the entrance pediment even though the decree was revoked that October. The railway tunnel beside the fort carried the Verdun–Hagondange line.

The fort is on the heights of the Meuse at 370 m, beside the two entrances to the Tavannes railway tunnel and above the D603 road to Étain. It belongs to the Ministry of the Armed Forces and access is forbidden. The site is abandoned, so it can only be seen from the outside.

The filmmaker Léon Poirier used the fort's entrance in 1927 for his film Verdun, visions d'histoire, setting off explosives that finished off what remained of the scarp there. Damage is estimated at three fifths from the 30,000 to 40,000 shells of 1916, one fifth from weather and one fifth from the filming.