Fort de Villey - le - Sec Fort de Villey - le - Sec , also known as Fort Trévise , is a fortification of the 19th century , built as part of the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications in Villey - le - Sec , France , one of the defenses of Toul . It is a unique example for its time of a defensive enclosure around a village . Conceived after the defeat of the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 - 71 , the fort was located away from the main combat zone of World War I and has remained almost intact . The fort ' s preservation association has been at work since 1961 to restore and interpret the site . It has been included in the Inventory of Historic Sites and has been designated as a preserved natural area . The Séré de Rivières was a response to the increasing power of explosive artillery , abandoning vertical masonry walls for more blended fortifications that served as artillery emplacements , defended by machine guns and small arms . The forts and batteries were designed to provide mutual support and to provide shelter and support for infantry units to maintain a defensive line , or cover for the assembly of larger offensive forces . In the 1880s , with the development of high explosives , much of the masonry construction of the forts became obsolete and was rebuilt using concrete and earth coverage . History . Fort Villey - le - Sec was built between 1875 and 1879 , then modernized in 1888 , 1903 and 1914 . Construction . The fortified camp of Toul anchors the end of the fortification curtain of the Hauts de Meuse . The 1874 Declaration of Public Utility that authorized construction envisioned four forts : Ecouvres , Dongermain , St . - Michel and Villey - le - Sec . Villey - le - Sec was planned to protect the southwestern approach to Toul , located on the plateau of Haye , supported on the south by the bluffs along the Moselle . The fort was originally planned to be about father west , where the Chaudeney redoubt is located . The fort was responsible for the exits from the Forest of Haye , and to provide flanking support to the Fort de Gondreville and Fort de Chanot . Design began 5 December 1873 and construction 26 July 1875 . The work was carried out by Morel , and took four years with hundreds of workers . It was the most expensive fort of the region . In 1885 the development of high - explosive shells made stone fortifications obsolete . It became necessary to reinforce the Fort de Villey - le - Sec with concrete and metal armor . At the same time the fort ' s artillery was judged to be vulnerable and was dispersed across the plateau . In 1890 four barracks were built of concrete , as well as a redan and two batteries in the redoubt . About 1900 a firing range was created with the fort at Gondreville in the edge of the Forest of Haye , to test the fort ' s weapons . Another , in the Bois de l ' Embanie , was used as a training area for s In 1912 work began to equip the fort with a battery of two Mougin turret s with 155mm guns . This was interrupted by the First World War . First World War . At the beginning of the war , after the French defeat at Morhange , the German troops moved rapidly to the west . From mid - September , after the Battle of Grand Couronné at Nancy , the front was stabilized within a few tens of kilometers along an axis Saint - Mihiel - Pont - à - Mousson - Nomeny - Moncel - on - Pail - Arracourt . It will more hardly move in this sector . The population was evacuated , leaving only the garrison and the men who were essential to work the farms . After the war . After the recovery of the Alsace - Moselle region , the fort lost its strategic interest . The army installed a small garrison , but was concerned with little more than maintenance . During the Second World War the fort ' s metal was stripped by the German army for scrap . The fort as bombarded by the Americans during the liberation of Toul . The 155mm guns of the Mougin turret were sent to Ouvrage Barbonnet , a Séré de Rivières fort in the Alps that had been modernized to function as part of the Alpine Line portion of the Maginot Line . Present . An association has existed since 1961 to carry out restoration work on the fort . Portions were opened to the public in 1967 and the fort was listed on the inventory of historic structures in 1973 . The Mougin turret and the north battery artillery have been restored to functional status . At present , the site is registered as a " site pittoresque " with tourism authorities , and is open from May to September . The preservation association uses Highland cattle to keep the vegetation on the surface of the fort under control . Main enclosure . Because the village already occupied the best site , the fort was built to limit the cost and difficulty in moving the occupants . The villagers were opposed to relocation because the village occupies one of the only places where water is retained at the ground ' s surface , due to the presence of a layer of clay . Réduit . The réduit comprises the principal fortification of Villey - le - Sec . Constructed at the southwestern angle of the village , the " réduit " ( a rallying point or center of resistance ) forms a square , on each side . The " réduit " forms its own fort , concentrating together stores , quartering and ammunition magazines . Its plan is similar to the Fort de Lucey . However , its modernization was different and changed the fortification considerably . It is organized around a Mougin turret with two 155mm guns , one of only two working Mougin turrets . The guns were returned from Fort Barbonnet , which had two turrets . Four rectangular courts constitute the original barracks . Two concrete - protected barracks were constructed , one in 1888 in a special concrete , the other in 1910 in reinforced concrete which forms the present entry to the " réduit " . In 1914 a battery to be armed with two 155mm turrets was under construction but never completed . Redan . Situated between the north and south batteries on the opposite side of the village from the redoubt , the redan is equipped with a 75mm gun turret and two armored observatories . A concreted barracks was added in 1890 under the turret . The redan was overlooked by a water tower and the steeple of the village church , which were dynamited in 1914 to prevent the Germans from using them to sight artillery . The Germans never came close to Villey , and the church tower was rebuilt in 1950 . A third observation point was added during the war . In 2002 the preservation association pumped w to 2 . 5 meters of water from the works , allowing access to the barracks and turret . Limited stabilization work was done , and the area awaits restoration . It is not presently accessible to the public . North battery . The north battery is located just to the north of the village . In the form of a V with legs long , it possessed a retractable 75mm gun turret and a machine gun turret , with two armored observatories . , 310 meters altitude . The battery controlled the plain . The entry was protected by an Ardagt et Pilter drawbridge . The position retains its double caponier . The restoration society has recovered the 75mm turret ' s guns from the ouvrage du Mordant and restored them so that they can fire blank rounds , along with the eclipsing action of the turret . South battery . More imposing than the north battery , the south battery was planned to cover the Marron road , taking the valley of the Moselle in enfilade and facing the Bois l ' Eveque . It lies to the southeast of the village . , 320 meters altitude . Like the north battery , the south battery was laid out in the form of a V . The south battery was not reinforced with concrete and retains its stone construction , with the exception of a concrete barracks added on the south side in 1890 . It was planned to receive a 75mm gun , which was never installed . The entry was equipped with a rolling bridge by Th . Pilter that could be laterally displaced . The southern battery was used by the National School of Applied Geology and Mineral Exploration ( " École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie Appliquée et de Prospection Minière ) in Nancy to store a radioactive mineral collection . Outer works . Redoute de Chaudeney . Also called the Charton redoubt , the Redoute de Chaudeney is located about one kilometer behind the fort at a location that could be used to bombard Toul . Its construction was initiated at the end of 1874 to anticipate delays in the construction of the main fort . Actual construction began in December 1875 , predating the " panic " forts built after April – May 1875 , when German chancellor Otto von Bismarck implied that Germany might initiate a pre - emptive war . The pentagonal position featured a Haxo casemate and a 164 . 7mm naval gun , protected by an earth rampart and masonry walls . The site is abandoned and covered with vegetation . Batterie de Chaudeney . Four batteries were planned behind the redoubt , but only one was built , to the west in 1912 . It was equipped with four 155mm guns . to the southeast of the batteries , a magazine was constructed . The magazine is abandoned but accessible . Powder magazine of Bois sous roche . The powder magazine was located to the southwest of the fort . Constructed in 1890 - 91 , it was equipped with its own well ( now dry ) . Today it is in ruins and shelters bats ( " Myotis myotis " , " Plecotus " , and Whiskered bat s ) , with a temperature and humidity suitable for their hibernation . It is therefore designated a nature preserve and is closed to access . Batteries de Bois sous roche . A set of six batteries was planned along the way to the powder magazine from the fort . Only four were built to the west in 1888 , totaling 24 positions for 120mm or 155mm guns . A raised position behind the batteries shelters ammunition niches and conceals the 60 cm military railway from direct vision . Advance post Ouvrage du Fays . A small infantry position north of the fort . . Constructed by a Declaration of Public Utility of 23 August 1889 , it was planned to be slightly modernized between 1907 and 1914 . Train line . A Péchot system rail line using a gauge of 60 cm was used to supply the fort . A Péchot wagon remains , along with several traces of the old line and the protective slope that shielded the line . The Villey - le - Sec military rail line was built between 1889 and 1891 , with extensions in 1906 to the Redoubt of Chaudeney and in 1913 - 14 to the road between Villey - le - Sec and Gondreville . The preservation association has re - created a section of the line for tourists . Other works . Also located on the plateau are :