- From extremely comfortable to mind-bogglingly horrible, these are some strange jails.
You fought the law, and the law won. Now, it’s time to go to prison. Your experience behind bars will be completely different depending on where you go.
We all know about the most notorious penitentiaries in the world. However, there have been and still are lesser-known prisons around the globe that can only be described as strange. Some of them are unusual because the prisoners don’t want to leave; others are strange for the outlandishly horrific conditions of the inmates.
Here are nine examples of some of the oddest jails and prisons in the world.
1. Justizzentrum Leoben
Seeing a picture of Justizzentrum Leoben (Leoben Justice Center) in Austria, you might think it’s just an office building. It is a prison, though, but it’s one of the most lenient of its kind in the world.
This minimum-security prison houses inmates who are not deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. They may sometimes forget they’re prisoners, though. They’re allowed to wear their own clothes, cook their own meals, and socialize freely with each other.
There are security measures to keep them from escaping, but overall, life in the prison is about as normal as it can get. The goal of the leniency is to allow the prisoners to reintegrate into regular society as smoothly as possible.
2. Halden Prison
If the Leoben prison offered (relative) luxury in a minimum-security setting, the Halden Prison in Norway does the same with maximum security. The facility houses some of the Scandinavian country’s most notorious prisoners, but their lives are pretty cozy all things considered.
Although the inmates are confined to their cells 12 hours a day, those cells have modern TVs, toilets with showers, fridges, and unbarred windows. The prisoners can buy and cook their own food, receive visitors, and engage in a wide variety of physical and work activities.
If two inmates have a dispute, they’ll be given a mediation session to avoid any violence or bad blood within Halden. However, to remind the inmates that they are indeed in jail and not on vacation, the prison is intentionally designed to showcase the surrounding wall from most areas.
3. Suomenlinna Prison
At the Suomenlinna Prison in Finland, they can’t show off the wall because there isn’t one. The whole place is surrounded by a simple picket fence that you could climb over at any time.
What’s more, the prison is located in the historical Suomenlinna island fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most popular tourism destinations in the country. Guards regularly have to turn away tourists who have accidentally wandered into the facility.
Yet, very few prisoners have ever attempted escape. If they did so, they’d get sent to one of Finland’s much less comfortable prisons instead of staying on the gorgeous island and getting paid to look after the historical fort. Who wants to risk that?
4. Clifton Cliff Jail
Clifton Jail is a defunct jail in the mining town of Clifton in the mountains of eastern Arizona. It’s virtually unescapable because the entire jail has been mined into the mountainside.
Used between 1881 and 1906, the underground Clifton Jail held some of the most notorious frontier outlaws of the time. It was decommissioned after massive flooding nearly drowned the inmates who couldn’t get out.
Curiously, Clifton Jail’s first resident was its creator, stonemason Margarito Varela. After he’d completed the jail, he celebrated by getting so incoherently drunk that he ended up behind the bars he designed.
5. Sark Prison
The Sark Prison is located on its eponymous tiny island in the English Channel. It holds the official distinction of being the world’s smallest operational prison.
This teeny-tiny penitentiary has room for a whopping two inmates. As such, it’s used mostly for overnight stays when one of the island’s 600 residents needs some time to cool off. The inmates are shipped elsewhere for longer sentences.
However, the minuscule jail fits the island’s character. Life on Sark is delightfully stuck in the past. Cars aren’t allowed on its roads, and until 2008, the island was governed by the local feudal lord.
6. Kresty Prison
From the world’s smallest prison, let’s go to one of the most crowded. The Kresty Prison in Saint Petersburg, Russia, once housed more than 12,500 inmates.
That’s a lot by any measure. But consider that the facility was designed for a maximum of 1,500 prisoners.
With more than 10 times the number of people the place was intended for, it goes without saying that the conditions in Kresty were nightmarish. Fortunately, the facility was closed in 2017.
7. Cebu Prison
You may have heard of the Cebu Prison in the Philippines. The facility went viral in the late 2000s and early 2010s due to its dancing inmates.
The warden at the time wanted to give the prisoners disciplined and structured exercise, so he started a prison-wide (obligatory) dance class. Videos of the prisoners dancing to, for example, Michael Jackson’s Thriller became popular on the internet.
Unfortunately, authorities discontinued the dance program in 2010 due to widespread embezzlement of the donations the prison had received. Wonder if those responsible ended up joining the previously dancing inmates?
8. Fortezza Medicea
Ever wanted to eat a meal prepared by Hannibal Lecter? Well, him being a fictional character, that’s impossible. But the closest thing you could get is going to dine at the Fortezza Medicea prison in Italy.
This facility runs a high-class restaurant with the staff made up of its inmates. One of Italy’s most exclusive restaurants, the menu consists of meticulously prepared and served Italian delicacies, which you can eat accompanied by live piano music.
The thing is, though, that most inmates at Fortezza Medicea are behind bars for violent crimes. The cooks, the waiters, and even the virtuoso playing the piano are convicted murderers.
9. San Pedro Prison
Finally, we have San Pedro Prison in Bolivia. This bizarre penitentiary is really a society in itself.
That’s because the prisoners have to rent their accommodations. If they can’t pay, they’ll stay in the crowded, bare concrete cells in the facility’s basements.
To make their way, the inmates get jobs within the prison’s ecosystem. They might work as barbers, run food stalls, or even staff the prison hotel.
With enough money in their pockets, the inmates can live almost normal lives within San Pedro’s walls with their families. That’s right; if you have the money, you can pay the rent for your spouse and kids too.