Places of Execution
a. Locations of state-organised judicial/quasi-judicial executions
b. Operated over a period or on a number of occasions such as to achieve historical "notoriety"
c. "Visitable"
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Amphitheater of El Jem | "The amphitheater could also serve as a place of execution for those condemned to death delivered to the beasts, as shown by a mosaic in the archaeological museum of El Jem" (wiki fr) | |
| Assisi | The place where the Basilica of Saint Francis was built was known as the "Hill of Hell", because it was used for the execution of condemned criminals. After the construction of the Basilica, its name changed in the "Hill of Paradise". "St. Francis wanted to be buried at this location outside of Assisi's city walls, called Hill of Hell (Collo d'Inferno - here were the gallows where criminals were put to death), because his master Jesus of Nazareth also was killed like a criminal outside of the city of Jerusalem." (Nomination file, p. 13) | |
| Auschwitz Birkenau | Gas Chambers and "Execution yard" | |
| Bukhara | The Minaret of the Kalon mosque. "For here, on market days, particularly outrageous criminals were led up the 105 steps of this 'Tower of Death', whereupon their crimes would be enumerated to the transfixed crowd, the omniscient justice of the emir praised to the heavens and the accursed criminal tied in a sack and thrown off the top to hurtle to certain oblivion below. The gruesome spectacle was current well into the second half of the 19th century" | |
| Chan Chan | Chan Chan Massacre (1932): hundreds of protesters were lined up and shot in Chan Chan, after the failure of a revolt against Sanchez Cerro, the dictator who was trying to wipe out the APRA (American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, a socialist and reformist party) and its supporters . | |
| Coiba National Park | "During the years that Panama was under the Dictatorships of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, the prison on Coiba was a feared place with a reputation for brutal conditions, extreme tortures, executions and political murder. Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed in the prison during this period, but sources claim that the number could be close to three hundred. " (wiki) | |
| Florence | "executions took place in the Bargello's yard until they were abolished by Grand Duke Peter Leopold in 1786" | |
| Fortifications of Vauban | Arras Citadel: 1941-44 to execute French resistance personnel and others | |
| Himeji-jo | Himeji-jo's Harakiri Mura, a place often used for ritual suicide/execution | |
| Kremlin and Red Square | Lobnoye Mesto - Despite a common misconception, the circular platform itself was never a place for executions. Sometimes scaffolds were placed by it, but usually public executions were carried out at Vasilevsky Spusk behind St. Basil's Cathedral. | |
| Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge | The bridge was the site of numerous executions during the Visegrad Massacre in 1992 | |
| Ohrid Region | During Roman times, the ancient theatre of Ohrid was also a site of executions of Christians by the Romans. Consequently, it rapidly turned to a highly disliked site by the locals. In fact, as a result of this dislike, the theater was abandoned and buried by the locals after the demise of the Roman Empire | |
| Old Havana | The "Laurel Ditch" below the walls of the El Morro Fortress was the place of execution by Spain | |
| Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles | The Piazza delle Erbe was the scene of capital executions since the Middle Ages, with Piazza Castello. It was also called Justice Square and the statue of Justice with the sword and scales, placed above the Torre degli Anziani, looked right over the place where the stage for the executions was mounted, under the windows of the Palazzo del Podesta. The loggias of the Palazzo della Ragione were also places of capital punishment, where another statue of Justice looked. | |
| Palmyra | IS 'executes' 20 in Palmyra Roman theatre (May 2015) | |
| Paris, Banks of the Seine | Place de la Concorde was the location of the Parisian guillotine during the "Terror". Then called the Place de la Revoultion" - "the guillotine stood in the corner near the H?tel Crillon where the statue of Brest can be found today" (Wiki). | |
| Querétaro | Emperor Maximilian was executed in 1867 | |
| Rohtas Fort | "Immediately to west of the Haveli stands the execution Burj(tower), primarily dealing with rebellious princea nd other royal traitors. The execution tower has a raised platform with a hole at its center through which the unfortunate victims were thrown. The execution used to be done in the presence of the ruler living in the White Palace." | |
| Sukur | "The traditional prison and the former execution site, neither of which is still in use, are partly ruined and in need of conservation and possible reconstruction." (Nomination file and AB) | |
| Thingvellir | "Drekkingarhylur ? Drowning pool - Guilty women were put in sacks and drowned in Drekkingarhylur while men were beheaded or hanged..... This obnoxious practice remained in effect until 1838." | |
| Tower of London | Common criminals were executed on Tower Hill outside the inscribed area but "famous" people were executed inside on Tower Green | |
| Tusi Sites | Tangya: "The settlement contains remains of barracks buildings, an execution stand.." (AB ev) | |
| Zamość | The Rotunda (10 minute south of old city but included in the inscription together with the road to it) was used by the Nazis for executions during WWII. Now the "Martyrdom Museum" |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Places of Execution?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source