The Swedish battery of Fort Gustav III (French: Batterie suédoise du fort Gustav III) (also Fort Gustav or Fort Gustave)[1][2] is a historic military
battery built in 1787.[3] It is located in
Gustavia on the island of
Saint Barthélemy, a dependency of France in the Caribbean. The remains of Fort Gustav are registered on the French national list of
historic monuments.[3][4]
History of Fort Gustav
Fort Gustav was the most important fortification in Gustavia during the era of
Sweden's rule of SaintBarthélemy.[3] It was one of three forts surrounding Gustavia during the Swedish era, along with
Fort Karl and
Fort Oscar.[5][6] It was built between 1786 and 1787,[5] on the grounds of previous fortifications built by the French in the late 17th century.[3][5] It comprised a stone guardhouse, stone
ramparts, a cistern, a
powder house, two
sentry boxes, a bakery, and wooden
barracks for 12 men.[5] Towards the end of the Swedish period, the battery fell into ruin. The only remains of Fort Gustav are portions of the enclosure, guardhouse, cistern, powder house, and kitchen.[3]
Site today
In 1952, the Météo France weather station was built on the grounds of Fort Gustav.[5] In 1961, the
Gustavia Lighthouse was built on the grounds.[7] In 1995, the remains of Fort Gustav were registered on the French national list of historic monuments.[3][4][5] In 2004, the weather station was renamed Espace Météo Caraïbes[5] and provided a
meteorological museum space.[3] In 2017, two period canons were added to the grounds of Fort Gustav, loaned by the Swedish Navy Museum.[8][9] Archeological studies of the fort's remains were done in 2020 and 2023.[10][11]