10 Terrifying Prisons Turned Tourist Attractions
(PHOTOS)
We've all seen "Escape from Alcatraz," "Shawshank
Redemption" and "The Count of Monte Cristo," and romanticized about the
heroic prison break. Yet real-life prisons like Alcatraz and Chateau
d'If have incredibly dark, frightening histories, which are also
important to acknowledge and remember.
Here is the Huffington Post's list of 10 of the most notorious
prisons in the world that have now turned into museums and tourist
attractions (The Bastille in France is conspicuously absent because
nothing of the original building remains).
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Perhaps the most famous prison in the United States,
Alcatraz
was the first maximum security-minimum privilege prison in the country.
It has housed some of the most notorious criminals of the mid-20th
century, including Al Capone, Robert "Birdman" Stroud, and "Machine Gun"
Kelly. Located on a rocky island surrounded by the freezing water of
San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was believed to be inescapable. Of the 36
men that attempted escape, 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed, and 2
drowned. The remaining 5 were never seen again.
Today, Alcatraz Island is a historic site operated by the National Park
Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is open
to
tours.
