Prison
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Amiens Cathedral | Belfry was used as a prison in the 13th century (Wells, Heaven on Earth, p258). | |
| Assisi | Santa Maria della Minerva: "The Roman temple (...) is relatively well preserved. It was first converted into a church and then, in 1212, into a prison. From 1456 the building was again used as a church (...)." (AB Ev) | |
| Auschwitz Birkenau | ||
| Australian Convict Sites | ||
| Avignon | During the French Revolution, the church was heavily damaged, and the cathedral turned into a prison. | |
| Bahá’i Holy Places | Includes Prison in Acre, where Bahá'u'lláh, His family and some 70 of His followers were imprisoned in the barracks from 31 August 1868 to 4 November 1870. | |
| Baroque Churches | Wiki "During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, the Church of San Agustin became a concentration camp for prisoners. Japanese soldiers held hundreds of Intramuros residents and clergy hostage in the church during the final days of the Battle of Manila; many of the hostages died during the three-week long battle" | |
| Belem | The dungeons of the Tower were used as a political prison from 1580-1640 | |
| Belfries | The belfries of Abbeville, Amiens, Arras, Gent, Hesdin, Rue, Saint-Riquier, Tournai and Ypres were used as prison. Jeanne d'Arc is said to have been locked up for one night in the belfry of Lucheux on her way to Rouen, where she was burnt at the stake. (Nomination file, p. 49) | |
| Berat and Gjirokastra | The prison of the Gjirokastër Fortress was used extensively by King Zog's government and housed political prisoners during the Communist regime | |
| Bisotun | "the Shah-Abbas Caravanserai was used for various purposes, e.g. as a prison. In 2002, it was acquired by the ICHTO, and has been restored to receive guests and scholars involved with the Bisotun project." (Nom file) | |
| Brazilian Atlantic Islands | Fernando de Noronha was used as a prison for over 200 years from 1730s. Much of its vegetation was cut down to prevent prisoners from using it for hiding and making escape rafts. | |
| Bridgetown | The Barbados Museum is located in the former British military prison of the Garrison | |
| Bukhara | The Zindan | |
| Campeche | San Pedro: Former prison | |
| Castel del Monte | Has been used as a prison | |
| Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay | Isolated right at the very end of the dormitory, the little building, which dates back to the 16th century, is often considered as having formerly been a prison. The abbots could legitimately enforce justice of any kind to those who lived on the land that belonged to the Abbey. But it might also have been the "place where the monks preserved (‘locked up’) the Abbey’s most precious possessions, such as books or objects of devotion." | |
| City of Luxembourg | The Neumünster Abbey - "After the State took over the premises, Neumünster was used as prison for male inmates up to 1980." | |
| Cocos Island | AB: "The human historical record includes ... use of the island (1872-1874) as a prison" | |
| Coiba National Park | The penal colony still operates! | |
| Colonies of Benevolence | In Wortel, structures for one farm and staff houses remain as does a large colony institution which is now an active prison. In Veenhuizen, an active prison is also present, occupying one of the colony's buildings. (AB Ev) | |
| Cordoba | The alcazar was used as a prison during the inquisition. | |
| Corfu | The Old Fortress housed a Venetian prison | |
| Curonian Spit | Valley of Death - French prisoners perished due to forced labour at a camp in 1870-1872 | |
| Danube Delta | The AB eval states "Conditions for the workers on state farms (on the newly-created polders) are reported to be extremely bad (attempts to introduce eco-farming in the near future)(IUCN-EEP, 1991); they lack basic infrastructures and the work is unpopular. It is reported that the state farms were used as prison camps" | |
| Danube Limes | Carnuntum (ID No 31): In one of the buildings, a consecration altar was found that had been donated by the prison administrator Caius Pupilius Censorinus. The building was therefore interpreted by the excavators as a prison (carcer castrorum). | |
| Derwent Valley Mills | Cromford Village | |
| Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens | Features within İçkale include the prison .. (AB ev) | |
| ESMA Site Museum | "the Argentine Navy’s principal secret detention centre for holding captive disappeared persons who had been abducted in Buenos Aires." (AB ev) | |
| Ferrara | In the Castello Estense, prisons, located at moat level, are in the basement of the Leoni tower. The Este family locked up high-ranking people or prisoners who required particular surveillance, certainly not common prisoners who found their place in the prisons of the Palazzo della Ragione. In some cells it is still possible to recognize some traces left by the inmates such as graffiti written on the bricks of the wall. | |
| Florence | Bargello used to be a prison | |
| Fort Jesus | Under British rule the Fort was converted to a prison until 1958 (AB ev) | |
| Fortifications of Vauban | Tatihou island was used as a prison for Germans during World War I. | |
| Fortress of Suomenlinna | There is a minimum-security penal labor colony (Finnish: ty?siirtola) in Suomenlinna, whose inmates work on the maintenance and reconstruction of the fortifications. | |
| Forts and Castles Gold Coast | ".. from the colonial era up to 2008, served as a prison. Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was imprisoned from 1950 to 1951 with common criminals in Fort James" (wiki) | |
| Galapagos Islands | Galapagos Floreana and Isabela have been used as Prison colonies | |
| Gammelstad | Parish hall was used to lock up detainees | |
| Granada | real chancillería | |
| Graz | Stable Bastion at the Schlossberg was used as a prison | |
| Great Barrier Reef | Palm Island was used as a penal colony for aboriginals from the 1920s to the 60s | |
| Gulf of California | Gulf of California Maria Grande Isle has had a penal colony since 1905 | |
| Heritage of Mercury | Almaden - "After the Fuggers failed to meet production quotas in 1566, the King of Spain agreed to send 30 prisoners to serve their sentences as laborers at Almadén. The number was increased to 40 in 1583. The prisoners, known as forzados, were selected out of criminals waiting for transport to the galleys in the jail of Toledo. Those selected usually had limited sentences and good physical abilities. Murderers and capital criminals were rarely selected, as the galleys were considered a far harsher punishment than the mines of Almadén" Wiki) There are some remains of this period " the prisoner gallery where the criminals were led to work in the mine from the prison." and location 1313rev-003 are the archaeological remains of the "Royal Forced Labour Gaol" | |
| Hortobágy | 12 forced labour camps between 1950 and 1953 | |
| Island of Gorée | The d'Estrées Fortress was used as a civil prison until 1976. | |
| Kasbah of Algiers | The Serkadji Prison was constructed during the period of French rule, on the site of a former Turkish fortification, in the upper part of the Casbah. During the Algerian War of 1954-62 several hundred FLN activists and fighters were imprisoned there and 58 were executed by guillotine in the main courtyard. The prison was closed in 2014 and will be transformed in a museum of national memory. | |
| Koguryo Tombs | "During the Korean War in 1950-1953 .....during the temporary occupation by the Americans the Ryonggang Great tomb turned into a prison" (Nom File) | |
| Kronborg Castle | From 1739 until the 1900's, Kronborg was used as a prison for slaves. | |
| La Fortaleza and San Juan | La Fortaleza | |
| La Lonja de la Seda | "On occasions, the Tribunal would imprison merchants for debts in the central tower of La Lonja - the third part of the structure." | |
| Loire Valley | Fontevraud Abbey was a prison from 1804 to 1963 | |
| Lübeck | The Burgkloster served as a prison in during the first half of the 20th century. | |
| Medina of Essaouira | "The prison, located on the offshore island" | |
| Meknes | Cara Prison | |
| Melaka and George Town | Melaka: underneath the Stadthuys | |
| Mont-Saint-Michel | The abbey was a prison from 1811 to 1863 | |
| National History Park | Citadelle Laferrière | |
| Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites | Constitution Hill: "This is the site of the 19th century Johannesburg Fort Prison, a place where many political prisoners were sent including Mahatma Gandhi (for a brief period in 1908)" (AB ev) | |
| Nice | Bagne de Nice: a penal establishment, located to the east of the port of Nice, that was reserved for forced labour. Between 1770 and 1854, it could accommodate up to two hundred convicts. | |
| Novodevichy Convent | Used as a prison for rebellious royals | |
| Old City of Acre | ||
| Old City of Jerusalem | The area surrounding the Cotton Market was turned into a prison by the Turks during WWI. | |
| Orange | In the 18th century, prisons were built in the theatre walls and in the basilicae (towers either side of the stage). They were mainly used to pack in prisoners during the French revolution. (official website) | |
| Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles | "In 1797 the" Oratory of St. George "served as a military prison, a use which led to substantial damage to the lower level of frescoes, particularly those near the entrance." (Nomination file, p. 247) | |
| Paramaribo | Fort Zeelandia served as prison | |
| Paris, Banks of the Seine | La Conciergerie | |
| Ping Yao | ||
| Poblet Monastery | The two towers on either side of the Puerta Real were prison towers. | |
| Portobelo-San Lorenzo | Fort San Lorenzo was abandoned by Spain in 1821 when Panama became independent. After Panama became part of Colombia, the fort was used as a prison | |
| Provins | Tour Cesar | |
| Regensburg | at the old town hall | |
| Rio de Janeiro | Fortaleza de Sta Cruz. Used as a prison during the 19th C particularly for political prisoners. | |
| Robben Island | ||
| Rome | Castel Sant'Angelo was used as a prison for the Vatican. Also the Carcere Mamertino which dates back to the 7th century BC (Livy). Many famous prisoners including St Peter. | |
| Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France | The Mont-Saint-Michel abbey was a prison from 1811 to 1863 | |
| Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara | Gezira | |
| San Marino and Mount Titano | "The barracks [in the First Tower] were originally a refuge and subsequently became first the seat of the guards and then a prison and also a residence. (Nomination file, p. 87) "The Guaita is the oldest of the three towers, and the most famous. It was constructed in the 11th century and served briefly as a prison." | |
| San Pedro de la Roca Castle | AB: "From 1775 the Castle served also as a prison and many important political figures where imprisoned there" | |
| Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca | Casa de Temperancia (now Modern Art Museum) | |
| Santa Cruz de Mompox | City Hall contained the colonial dungeons | |
| Siena | According to a legend, Saint Ansanus was jailed in the tower adjacent to the Church of the Jail of Sant'Ansano. "However a problem with the story is that the tower likely dates from the 13th century, hence was unlikely to have existed as such during the 4th-century rule of Diocletian during which Sant'Ansano was martyrdom." | |
| Solovetsky Islands | ||
| St. Petersburg | Schlisselburg | |
| 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) | |
| Syracuse | Castello Maniace was used as a prison in the 15th century. | |
| Thang Long | In mid-1945 the Citadel was used by the Imperial Japanese Army to imprison over 4000 French colonial soldiers captured during the Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina in March 1945 | |
| Thessalonika | Heptapyrgion | |
| Tower of Hercules | Old Provincial Prison is part of the inscribed area | |
| Tower of London | ||
| Urbino | The judicial prison was originally situated in the Ducal Palace and was transferred to the former convent of San Girolamo in 1889, where it remained until the 1980s. | |
| Venice and its Lagoon | Prison at the Doge's Palace | |
| Villages with Fortified Churches | Biertan's Matrimonial Prison | |
| Vilnius | The Domenican Monastery used to serve as a prison. | |
| Wachau Cultural Landscape | Duernstein | |
| Zamość |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Prison?
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