The honorary course of the castelet of Saint-Michel prison, in Toulouse.

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Patrice Nin - City of Toulouse

  • Disused for more than ten years, the Saint-Michel prison in Toulouse is opening its doors to the public for the first time.

  • The town hall has renovated the Castelet, the entrance building, and made it a memorial route combining prison history with the memory of the Toulouse Resistance.

  • The project to transform the rest of the building into a Cité de la Musique is still ongoing.

The large door and the medieval silhouette of the building are just a taste.

What a preamble to the sad stories contained in the surrounding walls of the Saint-Michel prison, from the construction of the "five-pointed star" building in the 19th century, to the "great escape", under escort , from detainees to the new Seysses remand center in 2003, through the detention and execution of political prisoners under the Occupation.

Until now the famous prison had kept its secrets, contenting itself with making passers-by fantasize and children shudder.

This Thursday, for the first time, his door is ajar.

The town hall has decided to open to visitors *, free of charge, the renovated Castelet: the pink brick building at the entrance, with its square towers which were both the antechamber of the prison and the administrative headquarters. penitentiary.

Execution post

You enter through the main courtyard, your eye immediately drawn to the execution post, which is authentic, but which we do not know if it was really placed there.

"Resistance fighters were executed here by the German occupier and his French accomplices", recalls Jean-Luc Moudenc (LR), the mayor of Toulouse.

But the Castelet is not a simple memory reminder.

It is also a real museum, interactive, and with five branches too.

History of the prison administration, testimonies of prisoners, reminder of the great historical figures, you can peck grains of history in each wing or dive deeper thanks to the tactile styluses (duly disinfected).

"Three mediators are permanently present, on the Canadian model of the marauding", specifies Francis Duranthon, director of the Museums of the city of Toulouse.

It even evokes a future Escape game, particularly suitable in these places.

While waiting for the City of Music

For the moment, the discovery is confined to Castelet, which the town hall has obtained management for 99 years.

The gray buildings behind, the disused cells, the promenade courtyard are still state property.

And the project, first mentioned in January 2014 by Jean-Luc Moudenc to transform the prison into a City of Music is still relevant today.

The prefect and the mayor now agree on a price: 5.5 million euros.

"I hope that the discussions underway [with the State and the Region] can be concluded so that the metropolis can acquire the prison", indicates Jean-Luc Moudenc.

The project notably provides for an auditorium with 2,000 seats for the Orchester national du Capitole and a public garden, "in an area where there are not many green spaces".

* Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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