Monday, September 8, 2014

Joux Castle - France

Last month João went on an European road trip but the trip was interrupted by an unfortunate event. After suffering for a couple of weeks, the worst seems to be over and João can finally breathe again. I really hope things keep getting better. 
Before the interruption of the trip, João sent me this card of the Joux Castle in France. 

Editions Cellard
Joux Castle is a castle, transformed into a fort, located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux, in the Doubs department, in the Jura mountains of France.
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each. The mountain range is located in France, Switzerland and Germany.
First built in wood in the 11th century, the castle was rebuilt in stone in the next century. After passing into the hands of the Ducjy of Burgundy, then of the Habsburgs Empire, a new fortress was planned by Vauban, Louis XIV's celebrated military architect, in 1690.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, including the French Revolutionary period, the fortress was used as a state prison, among whose most famous residents were Mirabeau, André Rigaud, Heinrich von Kleist and Toussaint Louverture (who died there from cold and malnutrition).
In 1879, Captain (later General) Joffre, then a military engineering officer, modernises the citadel by installing casemates that could accommodate 155 mm cannons, the largest pieces of artillery at the time.
The fortress currently houses a museum of arms that exhibits more than 600 rare weapons dating from the early 18th to the 20th centuries. - in: http://www.eupedia.com/france/joux_castle.shtml

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