Mr Monkey started his tour of Fort Napoleon in the first floor barracks area. He was only slightly distracted by a temporary exhibition called Shadows in Paradise that involved a Browning M2 machine gun surrounded by satin cushions. While Napoleon originally had the fort built because he thought the British were likely to attack Ostende, it had several uses in the years after his fall from power. In the 1960's it was abandoned and "bad boys and naughty girls"* used to break in to smoke, drink, and paint graffiti on the walls. When the fort was restored, this graffiti was left in place, as it is part of the history of the fort.
* Well, that's how the audio guide described them.
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Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 6 November 2007