Briançon

Briançon stands high in the Alps where routes converge from Dauphiné, Savoy and Piedmont. It was the centre of the Escartons, communities that obtained substantial local rights in 1343 and shared the assessment of taxes across several Alpine valleys. Its mountain position also made the town a key fortress on the French frontier. After the Savoyard invasion of 1692, Vauban planned stronger defences for Briançon. The collegiate church and the Salettes redoubt were built to his designs, while later forts crowned the surrounding heights. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 changed the frontier and separated valleys that had belonged to the Escartons on either side of the Alps.