Built at the entrance to the "Cluse de Pontarlier" with the Swiss border on the horizon, you cannot miss this proud castle, which is imposing by virtue of its architecture and mysterious aura. Joux Castle overlooks from a height of one hundred metres the main international and commercial thoroughfare linking the Jura, Burgundy, Flanders and Champagne with Italy since the days of the Roman Empire.

A strategic crossroads, it was inevitable that this natural safety net would be monitored and strengthened. Summing up 1 000 years of history in terms of changes in fortification, Joux Castle has witnessed the major European conflicts: the passage of Charles The Reckless in 1476, the occupation during the Thirty Years' War in 1639 and surrender during the French conquest of Franche-Comté in 1674.As from the 18th century onwards, Joux Castle was given a new vocation, namely that of State prison along the lines of the Bastille and If Castle. Many prisoners were to discover the harsh world behind the doors of Joux Castle including the Count of Mirabeau who, several years earlier, had emerged in the French Revolution as one of the key players in the declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of Citizens.

Protestants imprisoned after the Edict of Nantes was revoked or refractory priests during the Region of Terror, royalist or anti-Bonaparte plotters, Austrian, Spanish, German, Dutch and Swedish prisoners of war or 18th century French counter-revolutionaries in the Vendée or uprising of Saint-Domingue, Joux Castle watched silently whilst everyone considered by the Revolution, the Consulate and the Empire to be enemies from outside and within filed through its doors.

This is the final resting place of Toussaint Louverture, the major figure of black power and the first black general of the French army who instigated the abolition of slavery throughout the world. Joux Castle is thus intrinsically involved in a vast project of tourist and cultural development, the aim of which is to dedicate this venue to the memory of Human freedom.

The castle is also a landmark on the Road to Abolition, linking 4 sites, all of which are symbols of the battle against slavery [House of Negritude in Champagney (Haute-Saône), the house of Abbot Grégoire at Emberménil (Meurthe and Moselle), the Victor Schoelcher Museum at Fessenheim (Upper Rhine) and Joux Castle (Doubs)].

Right at the heart of the Upper Doubs region, the fortress is nowadays home to a museum presenting a vast collection of XVIIIth and XIXth century weapons, many of which are rare. The castle pulsates all year round with guided tours, conferences, evening events and the Nights of Joux Festival..

More information

Comité Régional du tourisme de Franche Comté
www.franche-comte.org


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