The Château de Joux

Built at the entrance to the "Pontarlier Gap", with the Swiss border on the horizon, this proud castle is hard to miss, with its imposing architecture and the mystery that seems to emanate from within. The Château de Joux stands around three hundred feet above the international commercial route which, as early as under Roman occupation, linked the Jura, Burgundy, Flanders and Champagne to Italy.

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 18^th 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).

Set in the heart of Upper Doubs, the fortress is now a rich museum of 18th and 19th century weaponry displaying a great many very rare exhibits. The castle is busy all year round with guided tours, conferences, evening events and the Nuits de Joux festival.