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Marie Antoinette, last Queen of France, is escorted from the Concierge prison in Paris on her way to the guillotine. The famous French prison is now a national monument and museum dedicated to those who perished during the Reign of Terror. The public has always been fascinated by prisons, penitentiaries, and penal colonies. While most remain off limits to the public, a handful of the most notorious prisons around the world have been retired and transformed into museums where visitors can get a small inkling of what it must have been like when they were still active places of human incarceration. Part of the appeal is how they often reflect the history, values and behaviors of the places where they’re located. “No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails,” Nelson Mandela famously said upon his release from South Africa’s Robben Island. And there’s the cultural aspect. Prisons and those locked within have long featured in books, films and television, from the wrongly convicted Count of Monte Cristo and Andy Dufresne of Shawshank Penitentiary to the real-life Henri “Papillon” Charrière and Orange Is The New Black. Here are eight legendary prisons around the world that are now open to visitors Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. MORE FOR YOU Alcatraz, San Francisco, USA Although it was only open for 29 years, the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay gained a reputation as America’s toughest prison. Designed for the men considered the most dangerous criminals, the prison was considered escape proof — although that didn’t dissuade 36 convicts from trying. Decommissioned in 1963, it’s now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Reached by ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf, the prison offers guided tours and self-guided audio tours of the main cellblock and other facilities. Aerial view of the Tower of London. Tower of London, England Originally built in the 11th century as a royal castle overlooking the River Thames, the Tower is most renowned as a place of confinement, torture and execution. Among the hundred-plus prisoners who eventually lost their heads were Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas More, Oliver Cromwell and Lady Jane Grey. Nowadays, admission to the Tower includes access to the British Crown Jewels, the infamous Bloody Tower, the Tower Green where many of the beheadings took place, and the “Torture at the Tower” exhibition. Poster for 1973 movie "Papillon" starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, set in St. Laurant Prison and Evil's Island in French Guiana (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art) Getty Images St. Laurent Prison, French Guiana The sprawling Camp de la Transportation in riverside Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni was the superstar of the French overseas penal system between the 1850s when it was first established until the late 1940s when authorities deemed the entire concept was cruel and unusual punishment. Over that span, St. Laurent Prison “welcomed” more than 80,000 convicts deported from mainland France ranging from murderers to political prisoners. Among the more famous residents were Alfred Dreyfus and Henri Charrière, who carved his nickname (“Papillon”) into the floor of Cell No. 47. Dreyfus and Charrière were among the prisoners who were eventually exiled to the Île du Diable (Devil’s Island) off the coast of French Guiana. The island is currently off limits to visitors, but St. Laurent Prison can be explored on your own or with a guide. Entrance to the Cellular Jail at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. Cellular Jail, Andaman Islands, India The British Empire’s version of Devil’s Island was the notorious Cellular Jail in the remote Andaman Islands, a place that prisoners called Kala Pani (“Black Water”) because it was nearly impossible to escape from. Considered a state-of-the-art prison when it opened in 1906, the castle-like structure imprisoned a mix of hardened criminals as well as freedom fighters and independence activists convicted of trying to end British rule in India and Burma (Myanmar). Guides are available at the entrance for exploring during daylight hours while a sound-and-light show illuminates the jail’s history each evening. The medieval Conciergerie (center) on the Île de la Cité along the River Seine in Paris. (Photo by Bruno de Hogues) Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Conciergerie, Paris, France France’s most notorious prison is famed for its role in the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror as a place where many of the condemned (including Queen Marie Antoinette and Robespierre) were imprisoned before their journey in tumbrel carts to the guillotine. The hulking Gothic structure is now a national monument and museum that includes the Prisoner’s Chapel with its monument to Marie Antoinette, a Hall of Names dedicated to the more than 4,000 people executed during the Reign of Terror, and an exhibition on prison life during the Revolution. The ruins of Port Arthur penal colony in Tasmania. (Photo by Mark Kolbe) Getty Images Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia The largest and most noteworthy of the 11 locations that comprise the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property, Port Arthur lies in ruins today. But from 1833 until 1877 it was the place where the most dangerous criminals transported Down Under were imprisoned. Nowadays it’s one of Tasmania’s major tourist attractions. Its menu of guided experiences includes an Escape Tour, Island of the Dead Cemetery Tour, a 90-minute cruise around nearby Cape Raoul and an evening ghost tour. Aerial view of Ushuaia Prison near the southern tip of Argentina. (Photo by: Sergi Reboredo) VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Ushuaia Prison, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Part of the historic military presidio in the southernmost city in the western hemisphere, this lockup earned the nickname La Cárcel Del Fin Del Mundo — The Prison Of The End Of The World. Built between 1902 and 1920, the prison was largely constructed by inmates, both hardened criminals and political prisoners who were forced to work on other projects like building the world’s southernmost railroad. After the prison was closed in 1947, the giant structure was abandoned until its transformation into a multifaceted complex that includes a Maritime Museum, Antarctic Museum, Marine Art collection, and a well-preserved cellblock. Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island. Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa Located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) off the South African coast, Robben Island functioned as a prison for the better part of three centuries. While the prison did harbor convicted criminals, many of those sent to Robben Island by the 18th-century Dutch, 19th-century British and 20th century South Africans during the Apartheid era were political detainees and freedom fighters. Guided tours include the ferry from Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, as well as a guided tour by bus and on foot that includes several prison buildings and the cell where Nelson Mandela was held for many of his 18 years on the island. Many of the guides are former prisoners. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
