Architecture militaire française au Caire, de 1798 à 1801
Stéphane Pradines
Annales Islamologiques, p. 269-320
Numerous articles and books have been published on the French Expedition in Egypt, the Army of the Orient or the French occupation in Cairo. However, the Napoleonic architecture in Egypt is a subject that has been completely neglected by specialists. This article aims to present an unknown aspect of modern Egypt, the military architecture in the late eighteenth century. For French, Cairo was a great field of experiments for the cartographers and for the engineers in charge of the fortifications. New models of forts will emerge from this Expedition as the ‘French Martello towers’. Military architects, uninhibited and free in the Orient, will try new forms and plan. The time of an Empire, they will overcome the plans imposed by Vauban and their predecessors. The Expedition of Egypt is a crucial point in the history of the fortifications of Cairo and they are at the origin of the military architecture known as «Napoleonic».