It was known for being an internment, torture and killing place by the Gestapo during the occupation of France by the Nazis.

Built in 1921 for use as a military prison, after the invasion of the unoccupied zone of Vichy France in November 1942, the Gestapo used it as a prison, interrogation centre and internment camp for those waiting for transfer to concentration camps.

Montluc was liberated on 24 August 1944 by FFI troops, when resistance leader Colonel Köenig, profiting from the chaos reigning in Lyon at the time, entered the prison in a stolen German Army car disguised as a Gestapo officer and persuaded the Commandant to free the prisoners, saying that the order had come from the Gestapo Commander in Lyon, Klaus Barbie.

In 2009, most of the prison, including the walls, the stairs and the courtyard, were classified as a monument historique.

[4] Since September 2010 the prison has been open to the public for guided tours organized by the National Office of Veterans and War Victims (l’Office national des Anciens combattants et Victimes de guerre).