Château de Joux

A veritable synthesis of 1,000 years of the history of fortification architecture, the Château de Joux experienced many of the major European conflicts: passage of Charles the Bold in 1476, occupation during the Thirty Years' War in 1639, the signing of the surrender during the French conquest of Franche-Comté in 1674...

From the 18th century onwards, the Château de Joux discovered a new vocation, that of state prison, alongside the Bastille and the Château d'If. A great many inmates were to discover the rigours of prison life within the walls of Joux and among them was the Comte de Mirabeau who, several years after his escape, was to play his part in the French Revolution as one of the authors of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Château is also a major stage on the Abolitions Trail linking 4 sites which are symbols of the fight against slavery (Maison de la Négritude in Champagney (Haute-Saône), the birthplace of Abbé Grégoire in Emberménil (Meurthe et Moselle), the Victor Schoelcher Museum in Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin) and the Château de Joux (Doubs).