Fort de Joux

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The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is a castle, transformed into a fort, 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) .

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⁾ by the lords of Joux. 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 1690. Successfully besieged by the Austrians in 1814, it was later reinforced with the construction of the forts at Larmont during the 19th century. In 1879, Captain (later General) Joffre, then a military engineering officer, modernised it and transformed it into a fort.

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⁾, Mirabeau and Heinrich von Kleist.

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⁾ from the early 18th to the 20th century, including a rare 1717 rifle. The castle also has a well which, at 120m (~400 ft), is is one of the deepest in Europe.

Since 1949, the Fort de Joux has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

The Fort de Joux

[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]