The UNESCO World Heritage List of Vauban's best fortifications has a Historical Description in French for each site. This is my translation of one of those descriptions.
LONGWY
A new town created ex-nihilo by Vauban and the engineer Choisy starting in 1679, facing the town of Luxembourg. The church, the town hall were constructed in the 1730's. The fortress was besieged in 1792, 1815, 1871 and completely destroyed in 1914. Despite this destruction, the town has conserved some elements of its military infrastructure. The lower town developed at the end of the 19th century and in the 20th century, thanks to the (thermalisme), to the steel industry and to ceramics. The upper town was declassified as military in 1923. Half of the enceinte was destroyed following urban extension.
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