In the first episode of my second season I am going to show you an abandoned prison in France.

A long time ago, in 1146, a French monastery was founded by Sybille d’Anjou, the countess of Flanders. After The French Revolution it was decided that it had to be transformed into a prison. In 1823 the prison welcomed its first guests, but after only a few years they ran out of space. So the prison was expanded between 1831 and 1839 and from then on, the prisoners could be segregated by sex and moved into different wings.

In 1906 a new prison building with improved facilities was completed next to the old monastery. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to visit this second prison, but maybe in the future I will.

The two prisons were severely damaged by bombings during the second World War. The Germans even took over one side of the prison, while the French remained in the other parts. Unfortunately, the prison was also used as a hub for deportations.

In 1946 the two prisons were reconstructed and they opened again in 1960. But the facility was becoming more and more outdated, so in March 2010 it was decided that it had to close its doors forever. The last inmates left the prison in the summer of 2011.

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