Fort de Joux
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The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux, in the Doubs département, in the Jura mountains of France. It commands the mountain pass "Cluse de Pontarlier" (1,2).
It served as a prison for successive French governments between the 17th and 19th centuries (2). In this capacity, Fort-de-Joux is best known for serving as the site of imprisonment for Toussaint L'Ouverture who died there on April 7, 1803 (1).
During its long history, Fort de Joux has gone through successive stages of construction. The first construction was built of wood in the 11th century and a rebuilding was executed in stone in the 12th century(2). While others have improved or at least repaired during the course of its history Fort de Joux' most famous remodeler would be Vauban (2).
In addition to being employed as a prison, Fort-de-Joux has played a part in the defense of the region up until World War I (2).
The fortress currently houses a museum of arms which exhibits more than "six hundred rare weapons" (2).
[edit] Sources with links to sources
- 1. Caroit, Jean-Michel "INDEPENDENCE OF THE FIRST BLACK REPUBLIC - JANUARY 1ST, 1804" 02.01.04, appeared in Le Monde website contains translation and apparently the original. [1]
- 2. Francerama (travel website) [2]
- Le Château de Joux' website (in French)
