Initially discovered by a Spanish explorer in 1775 (its name literally meant Isle of the Penguins originally), Alcatraz Island was first used by the US military in 1853, when it established a base there, transforming it into Fortress Alcatraz. This heavily fortified structure was completed in 1859.
In the course of the American Civil War, the defences of Alcatraz Island were a Union stronghold used to ward off the Confederates. It was also at this time that Alcatraz was first used as a prison, to house Confederate prisoners of war. This military prison continued to expand and was used throughout the late nineteenth century to hold, amongst others, Native American prisoners and those from the Spanish-American War. Over the years, the army kept building more prison sites on Alcatraz Island to hold the increasing number of inmates.
Alcatraz Island’s role as a site of imprisonment was cemented in August 1934. The US government had bought the site the year before and decided to use it as a federal prison, a function it would serve for twenty-nine years.
During this time, Alcatraz held some of the US’s most infamous criminals, including the gangsters Al Capone, Robert Stroud and George Kelly. Many inmates attempted to escape Alcatraz Island and, although no prisoners have “officially” escaped, one of the fourteen recorded attempts resulted in the disappearance of the escapees, Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin. Presumed drowned, their bodies have never been recovered.
In the 1960s, Native Americans claimed sovereignty over Alcatraz as a spiritual retreat – they occupied Alcatraz for a number of months following the US government’s refusal to acknowledge Native American claims to the land. Public support for the campaign meant that eventually President Nixon was forced into strengthening indigenous rights and restore some Native territory.
Alcatraz Island is today managed by the National Parks Service, and remains a popular tourist attraction.
Ferries depart regularly from Pier 33: there are multiple tour options available. Bring your own earphones for the audio tour, and expect a visit to last at least hours (including the ferry to and from the mainland). It’s an eerie yet fascinating journey into the workings of this famous site, and exploring Alcatraz Island’s varied and often dark history is a memorable experience.
Alcatraz Island is accessible by ferry only: these depart regularly from Pier 33, on the Embarcadero. The tram stops a few hundred metre away (The Embarcadero & Greenwich St) and bus routes 27, 54 and 72 also stop very close by. There’s private parking close by – expect to pay handsomely for the privilege.
]]>Camp Sumter was built in Georgia in order to relocate the majority of Union prisoners further away from Richmond (VA), where the original camp was, which was close to the fighting. Despite a relatively short time in operation, Camp Sumter became a byword for terrible sanitation and dire conditions: of the 45,000 Union POWs held there, around 13,000 died from a mixture of scurvy, dysentery and diarrhoea.
Finding enough food to feed the quantity of prisoners was a major issue, as was the lack of fresh water. The only water supply also served as a latrine, which unsurprisingly led to major outbreaks of disease throughout the camp. Exposure was also a major problem – despite being surrounded by forest, prisoners had no opportunity to artificially generate heat and winters could be harsh.
Andersonville’s commander, Henry Wirz, was tried for war crimes following the Union’s liberation of Andersonville in May 1865. The extreme suffering and overcrowding that happened under his watch meant that overwhelming evidence saw him found guilty and executed by hanging.
A couple of months later, some former prisoners returned to Andersonville in order to try to identify and mark the graves and names of some of the Union war dead. In 1890 the site was purchased by a Union veterans organisation, the Georgia Department of the Grand Army of the Republic, who in turn sold it to the Women’s Relief Corps. They made strenuous efforts to turn the site into a memorial park, and in 1910, donating the site to the people of the United States.
Today, Andersonville Prison, together with the National Prisoner of War Museum and the Andersonville National Cemetery form a Nation Historic Site. In addition to exploring the prison itself, visitors can learn about the role of American POWs in numerous different conflicts and view exhibits detailing their sacrifice. Entrance to the National Park and museum is free. The Andersonville Prison site also includes the cemetery, which is now a National Cemetery and is still active today as a burial place for war veterans.
Andersonville is located in southwest Georgia, 12 miles north of Americus and 11 miles south of Montezuma on GA-49. It’s clearly signed from the road and there is ample parking. You’ll struggle to get here via public transport, which is somewhat limited outside of cities in the south.
]]>Originally a canteen, in 1945 the Berlin Stasi Prison site became a detainment camp named ‘Special Camp No. 3’ run by the Soviet Secret Police. Transformed into a prison in 1947, it was taken over by the Stasi, also known as the MfS, in 1951.
Following the Second World War, East Germany and East Berlin were under the occupation of Soviet Russia as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Stasi were the official security forces of this state. The Berlin Stasi Prison in Hohenschönhausen became the remand detention centre of the Stasi, housing anyone considered to be hostile to the communist GDR. Prior to the building of the Berlin Wall, this even included West Berliners, such as the lawyer Walter Linse, who was kidnapped and taken there in 1952.
Once the Wall had been erected, many of the prisoners were attempted escapees. The Berlin Stasi Prison was notoriously brutal, with inmates being kept in tiny cells and subjected to torture to extract confessions. Located in a restricted military area, the prison was sealed off from the outside world, and not even marked on any East German city map. Few people who didn’t work there knew what occurred inside.
The Berlin Stasi Prison was disbanded in the autumn of 1989 as the GDR began to falter. It was finally closed on 3 October 1990, when East Germany was once again united with the West.
Unlike many other government and military institutions in East Germany, Hohenschönhausen prison was not stormed by demonstrators after the fall of the Berlin Wall, allowing prison authorities to destroy evidence of the prison’s functions and history. Consequently, today’s knowledge of the functioning of the prison comes mainly from eye-witness accounts and documents sourced from other East German institutions.
Today, the Berlin Stasi Prison is a memorial to those who were detained there and is a stark reminder of the political persecution and atrocities carried out in the Soviet-occupied zone and the GDR during the Cold War.
The site is open daily between 9am-6pm. Tours are offered (which last approximately 90 minutes, ideally registered in advance) – often conducted by former inmates – that reveal the full extent of the cruelty towards thousands of suspected regime opponents. Visitors can also view a film about the prison.
The prison is a 25 minute drive from central Berlin via Landsberger Allee. By public transport, take tram M5 from Alexanderplatz to Freienwalder Strasse, then walk 10 minutes along Freienwalder Strasse.
]]>The first inmates arrived in 1956 and very quickly, overcrowding became a serious issue. At its peak, there were over 8,000 prisoners at Carandiru (with only 1,000 guards for company) and inevitably, gangs seized control of the cell blocks. The medical staff were reluctant to go in which led to untreated conditions, itself leading to infection and death. Malnutrition and starvation were also common and during the 1980s, a severe AIDS epidemic ran rife through the prison.
Eventually in October 1992, a prisoner revolt at the inhumane conditions started the mother of all prison riots. In what became known as the Carandiru Massacre, the Policia Militar do Estado de São Paulo, making little or no effort to try the diplomatic route, stormed the cell blocks, killing 102. A further nine prisoners were allegedly killed by fellow inmates in one of modern Brazil’s darkest hours.
The prison’s death certificate was signed and it was demolished in 2002. Eleven years later, 63 policemen were sentenced to a staggering total of 19,908 years in prison for their part in the massacre.
Today, the Paulista Penitentiary Museum in the north of the city occupies the one remaining cell block and it aims to preserve the prison’s documents that tell the story of one of the world’s most brutal prisons.
The 21,000-piece collection includes detailed paintings, sculptures and furniture made by prisoners in creative workshops as well as objects ‘that help to reassemble the daily lives of the prisoners’ including rudimental tattoo machines and makeshift weapons.
There’s also a chance to be locked in a cell to simulate what it would have been like for prisoners – it’s not one for the faint-hearted and some find it slightly uncomfortable but it remains a draw nonetheless.
The museum is located inside the Parque da Juventude, which is a 5 minute walk from the Carandiru metro station (blue station). Buses stop on Av. Zaki Narchi, Av. Cruzeiro do Sul and Corredor Norte-Sul.
]]>The Changi Museum in east Singapore is dedicated to remembering the events surrounding the Japanese occupation of Singapore and specifically the lives and experiences of the thousands of civilian and Allied prisoners of war who were held in the Changi prison camp area.
The museum contains a number of different exhibits including an area holding replicas of the famous Changi murals – painted by British POW Stanley Warren during his time in captivity.
Other sections of the Changi Museum focus on the early days of the war, personal possessions donated by the POWs themselves and a selection of other artwork produced by the prisoners. There is also an area devoted specifically to the infamous Changi Prison itself, including an original piece of the prison wall as well as an original cell door. A final exhibition at Changi Museum focuses on the end of the war as well as the many stories of bravery, survival and heroism which were documented during the occupation.
Conditions at Changi during the war were said to be horrendous and the prisoners’ experiences were often depicted in murals, sketches and even immortalised in a book by novelist, James Clavell.
As well as the many exhibitions, the Changi Chapel can be found at the Changi Museum and allows visitors to light a candle to remember those who were held at Changi during the war.
Overall, Changi Museum offers a very moving insight into the lives of the prisoners and serves as both a place of remembrance and education.
As there is no public parking available in the vicinity, visitors are advised to take public transport or private car hire to the museum.
If travelling by bus, you may alight from bus no. 2 and 29 at Changi Chapel Museum stop (97209) or Opposite Changi Chapel Museum stop (97201) (5-min walk). You can also alight from bus no. 5 at Changi Women’s Prison stop (97059) or Opposite Changi Women’s Prison stop (97051) (10-min walk).
If travelling via MRT, you may alight at Upper Changi Station (DT34) on the Downtown Line, then transit to bus no. 2 at Upper Changi Station/Opposite SUTD stop (96041). Get off 7 stops later at Opposite Changi Chapel Museum stop (97201) and cross the road to reach the museum.
]]>Île d’If (Island of Yew Trees) is a tiny, three hectare island in the Bay of Marseille and the Chateau d’If has been described as France’s answer to Alcatraz. It was built in 1524 on the orders of King Francis I who wanted to defend the mainland from potential water-based onslaughts although it never actually had to dispel an advance. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V prepared an attack on Marseille in July 1531 but abandoned his plan soon after.
The fortress soon became a virtually inescapable prison due to its location and the fast-moving currents that rendered even the strongest swimmers unable to make the 1,500m swim. Described as a dumping ground for political and religious prisoners (including 3,500 Huguenots) as well as murderers, rapists and thieves and conditions were renowned as some of the most harsh and brutal in all of France. The prison did retribution, not rehabilitation and prisoners, many of whom were chained to the walls died of neglect and subsequent insanity.
Famous inmates included Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans who was known as Philippe Égalité, early French Revolution leader and renowned ladies’ man Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau and Paris Commune leader Gaston Crémieux who was executed by firing squad there in 1871.
One inmate who is often quoted – wrongly – as spending time at Château d’If was the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask, possibly an Italian nobleman, possibly, Philippe, the illegitimate brother of King Louis XIV or possibly a prisoner called Eustache Dauger but even today, his true identity stays a mystery.
Chateau d’If was a notorious prison in its own right but it became world famous with the publication of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo’ in 1844. It’s the tale of sailor Edmond Dantès who was wrongly accused of treason and spent 14 years at Château d’If before a daring yet ultimately successful escape.
The prison was demilitarised and closed on September 23rd 1890 and due to its infamy as a famous prison and also as the setting for one of literature’s great novels, the museum attracts thousands of visitors every year with tours culminating in the cell named after Dantès with a small fissure in the wall from where he was said to have escaped.
Today, the Château is still in operation, but only as a tourist attraction. People from all over the world visit and explore the famous prison that served as the setting for a beloved work of fiction and thousands of unlucky prisoners. The ex-prison is listed as a ‘monument historique’ by the French Ministry of Culture.
Guided tours of the prison are available, however make sure you book a visit at least a week in advance. The average duration of a visit is 1 hr 30 min including the tour of the island and two crossings (20 mins. each)
The famous fortress Château d´If is standing on a rocky island off the coast of Marseille (the second largest city in France). It’s reachable by boat from The Old Port (Vieux Port) with ferries running to and fro every hour.
The cruise to the fortress takes about 20 minutes. The boat trip there provides visitors with a beautiful view of the Marseille harbour. The return cruise lasts a bit longer because the ferry takes the visitors to the Frioul Islands.
]]>First opened in 1845 and based in part on London’s HM Prison Pentonville, Crumlin Road was designed by English architect Sir Charles Lanyon to replace the small county gaol on Antrim Street in Carrickfergus. As was common at the time, the prison’s design ‘encouraged’ the Separate System whereby prisoners were kept apart and in 1846 the first 106 inmates – men, women and children – literally marched 11 miles in chains from Carrickfergus Prison.
Conditions were brutal and oppressive and impoverished children as young as 6 or 7 were held for petty crimes such as stealing food. In 1858 after being sentenced to 3 months, 13-year old Patrick Magee hanged himself in his cell.
Lanyon’s original designs didn’t include a gallows, as until 1901 executions were held in public before crowds of up to 20,000 outside of the prison. After that, an execution chamber was added with the final hanging taking place in 1961 (not just at Crumlin Road but in Northern Ireland) of murderer Robert McGladdery.
As with many 19th century prisons, escapes from ‘the Crum’ were common despite earning the moniker of ‘Europe’s Alcatraz’, and during the century and a half of the prison’s operation, it saw some of Northern Ireland’s most famous inmates housed here.
Former Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was held in solitary confinement for a month in 1924 for illegally entering Northern Ireland (and again for the same crime five years later); Loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader Ian Paisley was sentenced to 3 months for unlawful assembly in 1966; Republican Sinn Féin politician and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness spent time in Crumlin Road in the 1970s; Loyalist Michael Stone was incarcerated here and Bobby Sands was imprisoned there in the late 1970s.
The Crum closed on 31st March 1996 and today, guided tours take you through the underground tunnel from the courthouse across the road to the prison, the Hanging Cell, the Historic Holding Cells, Governor’s Office, Graveyard, C-Wing and the Hospital and you’ll hear stories of political intrigue, famous inmates, escapes and executions.
There are also spooky stories of ‘strange’ activity and the Paranormal Tour is not for the faint of heart! Crumlin Road Gaol is a fascinating journey through 150 years of one of Northern Ireland’s most infamous prisons.
Crumlin Road Gaol is located in Belfast in Northern Ireland, and can be accessed from the A12 by taking the exit for Clifton Street / Mater Hospital, and continuing onto Crumlin Road. The Translink’s Metro Service 57 and 12B both stop directly outside the Gaol Monday-Saturday, while the 12A stops a short walk away at Carlisle Circus on Sundays. The nearest train station is at Yorkgate, a 20-minute walk away.
]]>Devil’s Island in French Guiana was perhaps the most brutal, feared and horrific penal colony in the history of incarceration. The government of Emperor Napoleon III opened the colony, made up of several small islands on the mainland and offshore known as Île de Salut, in 1852 and it was synonymous with horrendous cruelty.
The prison was intended for the exile of French political prisoners (but was extended to house hardened thieves and murderers) and was made up of Île Royale, the reception centre where 2,000 ‘thin-lipped, hollow-eyed’ prisoners who, Dante-esque, had long since given up all hope. Île Saint-Joseph was known as ‘Reclusion’, or the place where prisoners were sent to solitary confinement for escape attempts and offences in total silence and virtual darkness, some for up to five years.
Île du Diable was for political prisoners including Captain Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongly accused of selling secrets to the Germans in 1895 and the island’s most celebrated inmates, Henri Charriere, otherwise known as Papillon and forger Louis Dega.
Around 80,000 of France’s worst criminals who took the gruelling 15-day boat trip from Marseilles in below-deck cages passed through Devil’s Island, the vast majority of whom never returned home. Huge numbers died of disease, starvation and absolute brutality and those who completed their sentences were banished from France, forced to stay on the island. Later in the operational timeline prisoners were allowed back to the motherland but it’s estimated that less than 2,000 returned alive.
Spoken of in reverential tones by the French underworld, Devil’s Island was dubbed the ‘green hell’ and in a 1938 book by inmate René Belbenoît who managed to escape to the USA, he called Devil’s Island the ‘dry guillotine’ because prisoners endured a living death.
The French stopped sending prisoners to the islands in 1938 and the ‘toughest penal colony of all time’ closed permanently in 1953.
Today, tours to the islands are available by boat from Kourou on the mainland although Devil’s Island remains closed to the public (but visible from the boats). The prison buildings on the other islands have been converted into museums. Since these tourism facilities have been added, the islands now receive more than 50,000 tourists each year.
Kourou Devil’s Island has become a popular prison icon in film and literature. The infamous Dreyfus Affair detailing the French captain’s unjust conviction has been retold in literature, film, and on stage. Escape attempts from the “Green Hell” were common and mostly unsuccessful. Henri Charrière, the author of Papillon, later made into a famous movie, tells the story of one man’s efforts to get away.
The Salvation Islands are separated by vicious tides and dangerous currents. The natural environment made the islands an ideal prison site. Since rocky shores and rough seas made Devil’s Island inaccessible, there was once a cable system from St. Joseph, which was 200 meters away, for goods and people.
Lush growth, palm trees, and forests covered the islands, obscuring the water beyond. Left to nature, the tropical growth covered most of the ruins of the infamous penal colony.
The Salvation Islands, including Devil’s Island, lie roughly 8 kilometres of the coast from Kourou in French Guiana. The only way to and from the islands had always been by boat, and that hasn’t changed to this day.
In Kourou, about an hour drive from Cayenne on highway N1, you can catch a boat to Île St. Joseph and Île Royale. Access to Devil’s Island, where the political convicts were held, is strictly forbidden. It is recommended to take a tour, with information usually available in both French and English, to see the ruins of the other islands in a half-day or day trip.
Given the hot and humid climate, it is advised to bring water, sunscreen, hats, and appropriate clothing.
]]>After the American Revolution in 1776, the newly-formed nation set out to provide an example to the world in terms of social development and this included prison reform. 18th century prisons were little more than free-for-all holding pens but in 1787, the ambitiously-named Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons proposed a radical, Quaker-inspired idea – ‘to build a true penitentiary, a prison designed to create genuine regret and penitence in the criminal’s heart.’
Designed by English-born architect John Haviland (for which he was paid $100) to resemble a church in a wagon-wheel design with each wing emanating from a central hub allowing the guards to see all seven wings. ESP was one of the first proponents of solitary confinement with the founding fathers believing that isolated incarceration led to ‘reflection and ultimately penitence.’ It was so far ahead of its time it had central heating, running water and flush toilets before the White House. It was also, at the time, the largest and most expensive public building in the US.
The first prisoner to arrive in October 1829 at ESP – Prisoner No 1 – was a man called Charles Williams, who was convicted of theft. At first, ESP held short-sentence criminals such as horse thieves and pickpockets but like most prisons of the time, it grew into a maximum security prison holding notable names such as infamous bank robber Willie Sutton and the King of the Underworld, Al Capone serving his first ever prison sentence who furnished his cell with antiques and oil paintings!
By 1913, the ‘Pennsylvania System’ of solitary confinement was formally scrapped. By the 1960s, the prison was in need of massive investment and 142 years after opening, ESP closed its doors for good in 1971. ESP quickly fell into disrepair, and was practically reclaimed by nature, becoming something of an urban jungle. Today, after hundreds of stray cats were removed and the site was stabilised, it’s one of Philadelphia’s most-visited museums and a US National Historic Landmark.
Today, the prison is accessible via tour only, and tickets must be prebooked. They run throughout the day, as well as at night, and encompass cell blocks, Al Capone’s cell, art installations and amazing stories of inmate escapes. There is also ‘Terror Behind The Walls’, a serious scarefest normally held around Halloween, which includes Hollywood-style sets and 200 actors that’s consistently ranked amongst the top haunted attractions in America.
ESP is in the historic Fairmount district of Philadelphia. It’s about a 15 minute walk from Fairmount Station, or a 10 minute walk to Girard Av & Corinthian Av light rail station. Bus routes 49, 48, 43, 33, 32, and 7 are all located conveniently close by. There’s ample parking in the surrounding streets, although ESP itself doesn’t have parking facilities.
]]>Built by convicts between 1852 and 1859 from limestone quarried from the hill on which it is built, the prison was originally intended for imperial convicts but by 1886, only about 60 were left in a jail built to house a thousand. When Perth Gaol closed in 1888 and the local population grew with the gold rush of the 1890s, Fremantle Prison got busy again.
Prison life was highly regulated with meals being eaten in cells and up until about 1911 prisoner labour was used for much of the city of Fremantle’s infrastructure. Punishment ranged from flogging, time spent in irons, lengthening of sentences, deprivation of visits or what passed for entertainment all the way up to hanging. Forty-four (43 men, one woman) were put to death at Fremantle between 1888 and 1964 – Western Australia’s only lawful place of execution. The last man led to the noose was serial killer Eric Edgar ‘Night Caller’ Cooke, convicted of eight murders and 14 attempted murders.
The decision to decommission the prison was reached in 1983 but it remained in operation until 30th November 1991 when all remaining inmates were transferred to a maximum-security prison at Casuarina, 30km south of Fremantle.
Today, Fremantle Prison is one of Australia’s most popular tourist attractions and while entry to the gatehouse is free and includes the Convict Café, gift shop, prison gallery and an interactive visitor centre, there are a number of fascinating, interactive tours.
The Tunnel Tour which takes you on a subterranean boat ride through convict-built tunnels; the Doing Time Tour includes the solitary confinement cells, men’s cell block and kitchens; the Great Escape Tour includes fascinating tales of famous inmates, stories of escape, intrigue and the 1988 riot designed to highlight the inhumane conditions in which the prisoners were kept which led to the prison’s closure and the Torchlight Tour which focuses on the more macabre elements of prison life at Fremantle. The prison is open daily, 9am to 5pm.
For the really keen, there’s a YHA housed in a corner of the old prison.
The prison is in central Fremantle, a 15 minute walk from the High Street and 20 minutes from The Roundhouse. Fremantle itself is a south western suburb of Perth – you’ll want a car to get here, or hop on a 30 minute train from central Perth to Fremantle station, which is a 10 minute walk away from the prison.
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