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Origin and history

Coulommies Prison, located in Île-de-France, was built in the mid-19th century according to the principles of the cellular system, a prison innovation designed to isolate prisoners. The work, begun in 1851, followed the guidelines of the ministerial circular of 1841, which promoted individual imprisonment as a model of reintegration. The departmental architect Mangeon drew up the plans, incorporating an enclosure and a plated ground still visible today.

Used as a prison until 1958, this prison reflects the evolution of prison policies under the Second Empire and the Third Republic. Its inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1996, covering the entire building and its enclosure (cadastre AX 23, 24), highlights its heritage importance. Since its closure, the municipality of Coulommiers has been studying rehabilitation projects for this emblematic site, a witness to French judicial history.

The choice of Coulommies to establish this institution is part of a logic of decentralization of places of detention, typical of the 19th century. The prison, a communal property since its decommissioning, embodies both the reformist ideals of the time and the contemporary challenges of reconversion of the prison heritage. Its architecture, designed for surveillance and isolation, offers today a material testimony of the prison practices d Whilst it is still in existence.

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