PRISON MUSEUMS AROUND THE WORLD

The more gruesome side of social history has always appealed to the darker side of people's curiosity and in recent years, prison museums have become much more popular, with many now offering ghost tours, overnight stays and other experiences to pique a visitor's interest. Some prison museums are a place to learn about the terrible criminals kept within their walls, whereas others are memorials; places for remembrance of atrocities committed against people who were wrongfully imprisoned. Whatever their history, there is no better place to get a true understanding of what life was like for those inside than a visit behind their once locked doors.

With the article Prison Museums in the UK being such a big hit with readers, we have decided to expand to Prison Museums around the World. Unable to visit them all, we enlisted the help of other travel writers who have each written about a prison museum they have visited.

Click on the arrow next to each title to expand the listing

Prison Museums in Europe

Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin

Spike Island, Ireland

O Vello Cárcere, Lugo Spain

Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs, Spain

Helsinki County Prison / Katajanokka in Helsinki, Finland

The Conciergerie, Paris

The Hohenschönhausen Memorial, Berlin

Auschwitz Birkenau, Poland

The National Prison Museum in Veenhuizen, the Netherlands

Ninth Fort, Lithuania

Lukiškės Prison, Lithuania

Prison Museums in The Americas

Alcatraz, San Francisco Bay, USA

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, USA

Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise, USA

Yuma Territorial Prison, Arizona, USA

Kingston Penitentiary, Ontario, Canada

Ushuaia Prison Museum, Argentina

The Salvation Islands, French Guiana

Prison Museums in Africa

Robben Island, South Africa

Changuu Island, Tanzania

Prison Museums in Asia

Con Dao Prison, Vietnam

Seodaemun Prison, Korea

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Hoa Loa Prison, Hanoi, Vietnam

Prison Museums in Australia

Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne, Australia

Port Arthur, Tasmania