In 2023, enjoy the chateau with all the family. Story-tellers, workshops, treasure hunts, events, live shows, will all help you immerse yourselves in the history of the chateau in a fun and interactive way.
FUN VISITS
WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES
July and August 2023
In search of the Bourbaki treasure
- Eevery Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30 am
- Family activity, in french only
- From 6 years old
- Duration: approx 2h
- By reservation
1871, soldiers from the Army of the East passed through Pontarlier. In the snow and freezing cold, they advanced slowly towards Switzerland… Legend tells that before crossing the border, they may have hidden their “treasure”.
Will you be able to find answers to the clues and find it? Come as a family to solve this mystery!
July and August 2023
Photo-rally around the Chateau
- Every morning except Wednesday and Saturday, at 10:30 am
- Family activity, in french only
- From 3 years old
- Duration: 2h
- By reservation
Join in with all the family to solve the puzzle of the photo-rally. Explore the chateau de Joux in a fun, original way. Come with a camera or a smartphone.
Keen eyes and curiosity will help you discover the chateau de Joux in a completely new way!
LIVE SHOWS
July and August 2023
"Lady Cactus" an unusual, theatrical night visit
- By Mathilde Martinage
- In collaboration with the CAHD
- An itinerant comedy for all the family, in french only
- By reservation
In case of bad weather, the show will be cancelled.
Two real-false historians each in turn take on the most unexpected roles to take us on a journey with the forgotten women of Joux. They set off to meet the women of the chateau, sometimes inheritors, sometimes prisoners but never insignificant. Ghosts from the past appear and stories are told!
And then, from time to time, our two friends get a bit lost and are caught up in the whirlwinds of their imagination! Follow carefully, and most importantly, do not be afraid of the ghosts!
PROJECTS
In the years to come, the chateau is destined to become a lively and dynamic site where history, memory, culture and nature will all come together. The cultural and tourist events scheduled for the chateau, programmed already from 2020 to 2030, is built on the restoration of this historical monument, the design and installation of a self-guided tour of the chateau and the 3 museums, improving the overall visitor experience, and creating fun and original new activities.
Beyond 2020?
The chateau de Joux is currently being restored and renovated to house three museums: Fortress and freedoms, Museum of military art and history , Toussaint Louverture Museum in memory of the abolition of slavery. These major works will be carried out over a number of years.
- Main gate, drawbridges, fixed bridge: the restoration of the Main gate, the fixed bridge and the drawbridges between the 4th and 3rd defence ramparts, the centre of the Vauban stronghold are the main priority. These works are programmed in two phases: a first phase before the season in April 2021 and the second at the end of the tourist season, from September 2021 to April 2022.
- The self-guided visit: The second major project is the installation of a permanent self-guided path to visit the chateau This implies major additional work to ensure the safety of visitors, accessibility to the entire path, educational signage to inform visitors about the site and events that have taken place here. A digital guide will be offered to enhance the visit.
- The restoration of the buildings, the design and installation of the museums: Then will follow the work allowing for the installation of the museums and the display of their collections, in the former barracks, governor’s house and gunpowder storage room.
During the building work, the site organisation will require certain restrictions on the circulation within the walls of the chateau, but this will still be possible.
The chateau staff thank you for your understanding.
Stories and legends
Show children the aerial footage of the chateau at the beginning of a TV programme entitled “Sur les chemins de la Franche-Comté”, shown in March 2019. As the reporter says, “it looks like a castle from Lord of the Rings”!!
This impressive castle that looks as if it has come out of a Tolkien universe, has also been the scene of very real-life drama – good, bad and tragic.
Immersed in nature
Surrounded with unspoiltnature, the site of the chateau de Joux offers multiple opportunities to discover the natural environment and wildlife – on foot, on a bicycle, on skis, on snow-rackets and even by canoe!
Youth and family visits
The programme includes making rooms available in the Joffre barracks to help make the visitor experience more comfortable. These new installations will provide picnic spaces in the open air, toilet facilities, more spacious workshop facilities available all year round for fun activities, a shop where visitors will be able to buy souvenirs of the chateau’s incredible history.
3 new museums
The development of the 3 museums (Fortress and freedoms, Military art and history, and Haïtian art) will provide the public with gallery space of over 1,000 m2! Informational devices, suggested tours and conferences will be available to all types of audience.
Phased opening.
Artists in residence
The refurbishing of the rooms in the chateau, and in particular the Vauban barracks, will enable the presence over the summer of artists in residence who will create works – sculpture, paintings, installations, live theatre, poetry readings and songs… These original works, which will be played and exhibited at the chateau, will be based on the themes of liberation from slavery and the freedom of peoples to self-determination. From all over the world, these artists will share their passion and their work with visitors, and no double with the smallest / most curious of these!
I want to play Joux!
Also in preparation, for young and less young visitors,
- an Escape Game and several “murder mysteries” to be solved within the walls of the chateau!
- the design of a number of major workshops for fun educational activities
If you are really impatient to sign-up for these, follow the news blog on the website!
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