Fort Fleur d'Épée is an eighteenth-century French fortification on a promontory at Le Gosier, about 5 km east of Pointe-à-Pitre, with sweeping views over the sea and back toward the city. The fort was built between 1759 and 1763 and changed hands repeatedly between the French and British during the colonial wars of the late eighteenth century, each side recognising its strategic value as a commanding position over the channel.
Today the ruins and restored portions of the fort are open to visitors. The curtain walls, bastions, and underground cisterns give a clear picture of how eighteenth-century Caribbean fortifications were designed. The views from the ramparts are excellent, and there is something pleasingly ironic about standing in a European fort looking out over water that was once a main artery of the Atlantic slave trade that enriched the powers that built it.