It is not wrong to refer to prisons as an unforgettable place in studying the political history of a country. The prisons where thousands of countrymen who were guilty before the law were held were forbidden places for the common people to enter for many centuries. But several of the ancient prisons are open to tourists today. Here is information about some such prisons.
Robben Island (South Africa)
Located in Table Bay near Cape Town, Robben Island has been used as a prison and hospital from time to time in the 17th-20th century. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, it is best known around the world as a maximum security prison used during South Africa’s apartheid regime. South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, was also held on Robben Island for 18 years, and it ceased to be used as a prison in the early 1990s. Currently, the permanent residents of Robben Island are African penguins, which have been designated as a species at high risk of extinction.
Old Melbourne Gaol (Australia)
The Old Melbourne Jail, which housed some of Australia’s worst criminals between 1842 and 1929, including escapee Ned Kelly and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming, is now used as a museum. It is said that the bodies of 133 prisoners who were hanged there during the period of use of the prison were buried in the prison yard. Today, the top tourist attraction at the Old Melbourne Jail is the death mask collection. The masks were created by applying a layer of plaster on the head of a prisoner after he was hanged.
Alcatraz Island (USA)
Alcatraz Island, located in San Francisco Bay, was used as a military fort and prison in the 1850s, and as a federal penitentiary between 1934 and 1963. Alcatraz Island, which is considered to be an inescapable prison, is located in the middle of the sea at a distance of about 2 kilometers from the mainland. In 1962, three prisoners, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Fran Morris, tried to escape from Alcatraz Island using a raft made of raincoats, and their fate has not been reported until now.
Elmina Palace (Ghana)
Built by the Portuguese in 1482 overlooking the Gulf of Guinea, the Elmina Palace was used as a trading center by Europeans and Africans living in the Sahara desert. It was later used to hold slaves and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Thousands of blacks captured for shipment to Europe were held at Elmina Castle until they were loaded onto ships.
Tuol Slang (Cambodia)
In 1975, after the Cambodian Communist Party or Khmer Rush seized power in Cambodia, the Tuol Sleng building, which was a high school at that time, was used as a detention center named ‘Security Prison 21 (S-21)’. It has been used as a torture chamber where people captured in the genocide program launched by the Khmer Rouge were brutally tortured. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, it was converted into a museum to commemorate the 1.7 million victims of the genocide.
Devil’s Island (French Guiana)
Facing the Atlantic Ocean, Devil’s Island belongs to French Guiana. Since the early 1850s, it has been created with the purpose of being used as a penal colony under the orders of the then French Emperor Napoleon III. For more than a century, thousands of political prisoners and serious criminals have been detained there and it is said that the death rate in the prisons was as high as 75%. Several prisoners have managed to escape from Devil’s Island, the most famous escape being that of Henry Charrier, who spent 11 years on the island after being convicted of murder. He even published a book titled ‘Papillon’ about his time spent in the prison camp after escaping in a raft made of coconuts.
Chateau Dief (France)
Built in the 16th century, the castle ‘Château d’If’ became famous worldwide due to Alexandre Dumas’ book series ‘Monte Cristo’ published in 1844. Located on the Bay of Marseille, the fort was mostly used to hold political and religious prisoners. In use for over three centuries, it was closed at the end of the 19th century and has now become a popular tourist attraction.
