Maison centrale de Saint-Martin-de-Ré, Correctional facility in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, France.
The Maison centrale de Saint-Martin-de-Ré is a maximum-security prison located on the Île de Ré within a fortified citadel complex. It houses around 480 inmates divided between two separate detention areas known as the Citadelle and the Caserne.
The facility was first built in 1700 as a staging point where convicts awaited transfer to French Guiana's prison colonies. It became a permanent correctional institution in 1946 and shifted to holding long-term sentences.
The prison chapel serves as a gathering place for spiritual practice among inmates and staff from different faiths. It reflects how religion remains part of daily life within these walls.
The prison operates on an island location with strict security measures in place, so visits are restricted to authorized personnel only. Public access and information about daily operations are limited due to its active correctional status.
Only one person, Claude Tenne, successfully escaped from these fortified walls, managing to do so in 1967. This remains the single known escape from the facility in its long operational history.
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