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Bagne of Toulon
Closed 1873Low
Verified
Fresh · 2mo ago
Sources last reviewed on
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Bagne of Toulon
Step-by-step guidance using the France system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by Rijksmuseum via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Photo by Pierre Zaccone via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Pierre Zaccone via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Pierre Zaccone via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Pierre Zaccone via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Tangopaso via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Jules Gaildrau / Pierre Letuaire via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Pierre Zaccone via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Background
The Bagne of Toulon was a notorious bagne, or penal establishment in Toulon, France, made famous as the place of imprisonment of the fictional Jean Valjean, the hero of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. It was opened in 1748 and closed in 1873.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
4,000
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
1748
Closed 1873
Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
—
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1748
Region
—
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Notable inmates
Marie Lafarge1816–1852 · historianMarie-Fortunée Lafarge (née Capelle; 15 January 1816 â 7 November 1852) was a French woman who was convicted of murdering her husband by arsenic poisoning in 1840.
Pierre Coignard1774–1834- Antoine-Victor Mornac1802–1869
Eugène François Vidocq1775–1857 · detectiveEugène-François Vidocq (French: [øÊÉn fÊÉÌswa vidÉk]; 24 July 1775 â 11 May 1857) was a French criminal turned criminalist, whose life story inspired several writers, including Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, and Honoré de Balzac.
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
—
Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
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- Maison d'arrêt LimogesLimogespretrialMaison d'arrêt219% occupancy
- Maison d'arrêt VannespretrialMaison d'arrêt200% occupancy
- Maison d'arrêt AuxerreAuxerrepretrialMaison d'arrêt208% occupancy
- Maison d'arrêt AmiensAmienspretrialMaison d'arrêt212% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in France
731 peersCapacity (beds)this: 4000 · peers avg: 332 (+1103%)
Data completeness
22%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q2879092)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
APA
World Prisons. (2026). Bagne of Toulon. Retrieved July 22, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bagne-of-toulon
Chicago
"Bagne of Toulon." World Prisons. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bagne-of-toulon.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-bagne-of-toulon,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Bagne of Toulon},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bagne-of-toulon},
urldate = {2026-07-22}
}