Château de Montbéliard

The Château de Montbéliard (Montbeliard Castle), also known as the Château des ducs de Württemberg (Castle of the Dukes of Württemberg) is a fortress located on an outcropping rock that overlooks the town of Montbéliard in the Doubs département of France.

[1] It is believed that there has been a fortress on the site since the Gallo-Roman times, though then it was only a wooden watchtower acting as an observation post for the defence of the town of Mandeure (Epomanduodurum).

This part of the castle was separated by a wide and deep ditch (which does not exist today), spanned by a drawbridge.

The Châtel-Devant (front of the castle), in the west, dominates the town of Allan and the river Lizaine (before it channels underground), and contains along its northern face the single entry of the fortress, together with its drawbridge and portcullis.

Châtel-Devant contained in its enclosure the buildings of the garrison (which sometimes also housed official travelers), the stables, the falconry, and the arsenal which stored the guns, ammunition and weapons necessary for the defence of the castle and the city.