This is going to be my first ever report so hopefully this will go well.
I apologize in advance for the poor pictures, I did not take my camera, so I had to take snaps with my phone.
Last Sunday after attending a family wedding away from Paris, I made my way back home with the intention of checking out a few sites including this one, which I have been meaning to visit for a while, but unfortunately for past me, I did not have the autonomy a driving license can give you then.
Anyway.
A bit about the site: La Maison d'arrêt de Meaux.
Situated in the centre of the small town of Meaux in Seine-Et-Marne (77), this prison was built in the middle of the 19th century (1854-57) on the same model as many other prisons at the time, following the plans of Ernest Mangion, the county's architect. From what I could gather online and on-site it was a prison for French men as well as non-French nationals.
It was a fairly small prison with the capacity to hold 53 inmates, who, in the 1960s were here in transfer before being sent to the galleys (I am not entirely sure this is the right word).
It's been quite hard to find more information than this, I just know that it closed its doors in 2005, following the opening of a bigger regional detention centre.
The prison used to be surrounded by a large stone wall, which has now been taken down to build parking spaces.
Satellite view of the site in 2013. What is now left is the building and some of the green areas.
Since taking down the wall and doing some building around it, there has been projects to turn the building into some sort of cultural centre, but not much has happened since 2015.
The explore:
To be honest, despite it being in the centre of a town, it was fairly easy to access. I was slightly worried because I had looked around and there was a lot of activity and people since due to a Christmas market nearby, but being careful and looking like you know exactly what you're doing and like it's no one's business can get you through anything in France so...
Anyway, once we passed that little moment, it went like penguins on an ice rink. I assume it is a fairly popular site in France, I can see why, since it's fairly easy but also still very nice.
We got in through the back. I believe the site was more or less well preserved until they took down the stone wall. It's easy to see that there has been a lot of squat and degradation, and you are welcomed by a huge pile of paper, random objects, doors, pieces of furniture, rubble. Looking up it's quite impressive despite the mess. There is that distinctive prison look, with the footbridges and lines of identical but numerated doors on the sides, the large (and only) windows at the top, providing the whole building with light.
Downstairs was one of the most interesting floors although quite dark and messy: you can see (broken) glass transfer cubicles, showers, parlours, posters on the wall about how isolated inmates were supposed to be treated, a room that used to be a classroom with old slides for the driving theory test...
This is basically what you see upon entering. I am wondering what people hoped to do with all this fax paper.
("Please take your laundry when coming back from the parlour" says the poster)
The first, second and third floor are almost identical (so much that I can't recall if there wasn't a fourth floor?) as they are the floors with most of the cells. All cells could hold 3 inmates and most of them have been cleared out. There is one specific one with plenty of books (including 'the languages of love') and a few with some pamphlets about electronic bracelets and partial freedom arrangements, or the rights for non-nationals inmates, but unfortunately, a lot of the more "personal" traces have been wiped out, or just not present at all - after all, it was a prison.
On all the floors we had to be careful because some cells had massive holes in the floor (but there is no apparent reason why?)
In the second picture, you can see one of the numerous holes in the floor of a cell. On the last one it's the penal code, resting there, casually.
The offices are situated at the front of the building and we had to be discreet, as most of the windows are busted (and this includes a large glass door that you can largely see from the streets).
I was quite amazed at how many files were actually still there, even after 14 years. Files and floppy disks and old recordings. Same goes for the medical files and records in the medical cabinet.
There was a lot of medical stuff all around the place, actually, many on the third floor for some reason although the medical facility was on the first floor.
The top floor seemed to be used mostly for storage and turned out to be one of the most interesting spaces in terms of items. You can see a lot of files, uniforms etc... Nothing completely uncommon, I guess, but still it was interesting.
The main office
Painting on the wall in the "leisure" or family room.
The top floor.
Overall we spent about 45 minutes in there as it is a small prison, and it gets repetitive quite rapidly. It was still a good explore, and I am a bit disappointed that I do not have more pictures, but to be fair the general mess makes it difficult for taking interesting pictures.
I suspect the place is more photogenic when there is sun outside, but also it might then be a bit overcrowded, as it is clear people get in and out of it like it's a train station. There is a lot of degradation, people have even made a fire on the second floor, and there is a lot of graffiti on the wall, which is a bit sad considering that it is a very charming prison (although clearly, it does not make you envy the people who were trapped in there). But yeah, overall worth checking out if you are looking for a relaxed explore.
I apologize in advance for the poor pictures, I did not take my camera, so I had to take snaps with my phone.
Last Sunday after attending a family wedding away from Paris, I made my way back home with the intention of checking out a few sites including this one, which I have been meaning to visit for a while, but unfortunately for past me, I did not have the autonomy a driving license can give you then.
Anyway.
A bit about the site: La Maison d'arrêt de Meaux.
Situated in the centre of the small town of Meaux in Seine-Et-Marne (77), this prison was built in the middle of the 19th century (1854-57) on the same model as many other prisons at the time, following the plans of Ernest Mangion, the county's architect. From what I could gather online and on-site it was a prison for French men as well as non-French nationals.
It was a fairly small prison with the capacity to hold 53 inmates, who, in the 1960s were here in transfer before being sent to the galleys (I am not entirely sure this is the right word).
It's been quite hard to find more information than this, I just know that it closed its doors in 2005, following the opening of a bigger regional detention centre.
The prison used to be surrounded by a large stone wall, which has now been taken down to build parking spaces.
Satellite view of the site in 2013. What is now left is the building and some of the green areas.
Since taking down the wall and doing some building around it, there has been projects to turn the building into some sort of cultural centre, but not much has happened since 2015.
The explore:
To be honest, despite it being in the centre of a town, it was fairly easy to access. I was slightly worried because I had looked around and there was a lot of activity and people since due to a Christmas market nearby, but being careful and looking like you know exactly what you're doing and like it's no one's business can get you through anything in France so...
Anyway, once we passed that little moment, it went like penguins on an ice rink. I assume it is a fairly popular site in France, I can see why, since it's fairly easy but also still very nice.
We got in through the back. I believe the site was more or less well preserved until they took down the stone wall. It's easy to see that there has been a lot of squat and degradation, and you are welcomed by a huge pile of paper, random objects, doors, pieces of furniture, rubble. Looking up it's quite impressive despite the mess. There is that distinctive prison look, with the footbridges and lines of identical but numerated doors on the sides, the large (and only) windows at the top, providing the whole building with light.
Downstairs was one of the most interesting floors although quite dark and messy: you can see (broken) glass transfer cubicles, showers, parlours, posters on the wall about how isolated inmates were supposed to be treated, a room that used to be a classroom with old slides for the driving theory test...
This is basically what you see upon entering. I am wondering what people hoped to do with all this fax paper.
("Please take your laundry when coming back from the parlour" says the poster)
The first, second and third floor are almost identical (so much that I can't recall if there wasn't a fourth floor?) as they are the floors with most of the cells. All cells could hold 3 inmates and most of them have been cleared out. There is one specific one with plenty of books (including 'the languages of love') and a few with some pamphlets about electronic bracelets and partial freedom arrangements, or the rights for non-nationals inmates, but unfortunately, a lot of the more "personal" traces have been wiped out, or just not present at all - after all, it was a prison.
On all the floors we had to be careful because some cells had massive holes in the floor (but there is no apparent reason why?)
In the second picture, you can see one of the numerous holes in the floor of a cell. On the last one it's the penal code, resting there, casually.
The offices are situated at the front of the building and we had to be discreet, as most of the windows are busted (and this includes a large glass door that you can largely see from the streets).
I was quite amazed at how many files were actually still there, even after 14 years. Files and floppy disks and old recordings. Same goes for the medical files and records in the medical cabinet.
There was a lot of medical stuff all around the place, actually, many on the third floor for some reason although the medical facility was on the first floor.
The top floor seemed to be used mostly for storage and turned out to be one of the most interesting spaces in terms of items. You can see a lot of files, uniforms etc... Nothing completely uncommon, I guess, but still it was interesting.
The main office
Painting on the wall in the "leisure" or family room.
The top floor.
Overall we spent about 45 minutes in there as it is a small prison, and it gets repetitive quite rapidly. It was still a good explore, and I am a bit disappointed that I do not have more pictures, but to be fair the general mess makes it difficult for taking interesting pictures.
I suspect the place is more photogenic when there is sun outside, but also it might then be a bit overcrowded, as it is clear people get in and out of it like it's a train station. There is a lot of degradation, people have even made a fire on the second floor, and there is a lot of graffiti on the wall, which is a bit sad considering that it is a very charming prison (although clearly, it does not make you envy the people who were trapped in there). But yeah, overall worth checking out if you are looking for a relaxed explore.
