Prison
Following the extinction of the Lords of Miolans in 1523, ownership of the castle passed to the Counts of Savoy. Count Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy transformed the fortress into a prison. A role it would retain until 1792. During that time, more than 200 prisoners were housed at Miolins.
The castle became known as the Bastille tilt (English: Bastille of the Alps). Its dungeons were called Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, Treasury, and little and great hope. Among the notable persons imprisoned at Miolins were:
- Pietro Giannone, 1736–1738, historian.
- Vincent Rene Lavin, 1767–1786, forger of banknotes.
- François-Marie's Alée, Baron Songy, 1772.
- Marquis de Sade, 1772.
All prisoners were released following the French revolution. The fortress prison was abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin as a symbol of the system of the Ancien Régime.
In 1869, Eugene Alexander Guiter, Prefect of Savoy, privately bought the fortress from the French state and began its restoration. Castle Miolans was classified as a historical monument in May 1944.
Today the castle remains a private property but is open to visitors.
Read more about this topic: Fortress Of Miolans
Famous quotes containing the word prison:
“But neither milk-white rose nor red
May bloom in prison air;
The shard, the pebble, and the flint,
Are what they give us there:
For flowers have been known to heal
A common man’s despair.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Thus I alone, where all my freedom grew,
In prison pine with bondage and restraint;
And with remembrance of the greater grief
To banish the less, I find my chief relief.”
—Henry Howard, Earl Of Surrey (1517?–1547)
“Anyone who has been to an English public school will always feel comparatively at home in prison. It is the people brought up in the gay intimacy of the slums ... who find prison so soul-destroying.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)