Fort Boyard lies halfway between the Oleron and Aix islands on the coast of France. Originally built to monitor access to Aix's natural harbour after several hundreds of years of planning, the Fort is now the basis for the outstanding televised action-adventure gameshow aptly named "Fort Boyard", watched by millions around the world.

As soon as Colbert created the Arsenal in Rochefort in 1666, the Engineer Clerville - building supervisor for all the kingdom's fortifications - suggested that a fort be built on the Boyard side to control access to the Aix Island Harbour. The idea was dismissed, however in 1763 the idea of a fort was brought up again, only to be discarded once more for its technical difficulties.

In June 1801 a commission from the Engineering, the Civil Engineering and the Marine departments gave its report on the Fort Boyard project. On February 4th, 1803, the scheme was approved by the Firt Consul Bonaparte.

Building work began in 1804 with the foundations, which were laid five metres below sea level. In 1807 the first installations were proved to be sinking into the sea-bed, and violent storms of the winter of 1807 almost completely ruined them. Napolean decided in 1808 to half the size of the fort in order to eliminate some of the costs. Construction was cancelled in 1809 due to various reasons, mainly the environment and the English.

New tension between the English and the French in 1840 sparked new interest in the project. Advances in technology allowed for stabalization of the foundations, and campaigns in 1847 and 1848 resulted in completion of the Fort's base at the pricey sum of 2.35 million francs. The marine department had finally finished the foundations, now rising 2 metres above sea level.

The Engineers built their fort in stone, shaped like an elongated ring. Designed to house seventy four cannons in 1859 (the year of armament), rifles represented considerable process in armary, hence the need for the fort had become obselete. Fort Boyard was never equipped to its initial number of cannon.

The fort was relegated in 1913 and landmarked in 1950. Used for a prison for several years, it was sold in 1961, becoming the property of Charente-Maritime Country. After considerable refurbishment in the late 1980s, the French have recently celebrated ten years of the fort as the home of France's number one entertainment show, Fort Boyard.

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