Toulon

Toulon occupies a sheltered Mediterranean roadstead, protected by hills and forts. Its harbour became one of the principal bases of the French royal navy, where ships were built, equipped and supplied. The town and its arsenal grew together as the demands of naval warfare increased. From 1680 a new western enclosure was built to protect an enlarged arsenal and a second dock for the king's ships. Vauban's plans provided workshops, stores and a royal ropewalk as well as bastions around the expanded port. The defences were put to the test during the siege of 1707, when Toulon became a major objective in the War of the Spanish Succession.