Les Prisons Royales

The history and little secrets of an 18th-century prison!

This historic complex dating from the 18th century is unique in Burgundy Franche-Comté for its state of conservation.

Under Louis XIV, Franche-Comté was a province ripe for smuggling. The Justice des Gabelles was set up to combat the illegal trade in salt, tobacco and cloth.

Built between 1730 and 1741 to house the gabelles court, the building includes an auditorium, prisons, the gaoler's lodgings and a chapel.

After the Revolution, the building was used as a transit prison for prisoners walking from Lons-le-Saunier to Bourg-en-Bresse. The prison was disused in 1869.

Learn about the life of a prisoner convicted of smuggling, the conditions of detention under the Ancien Régime and how the prison functioned.

Let yourself be led from the guardhouse to the dungeons, which are still well preserved!

Take a stroll through the corridors of the prisons, and catch a glimpse of their history at the corner of a door or the turn of a staircase.


NEW: a PASS to discover the Apothicary's and the Royal Prisons.