Any prison castle, despite the original decent and beautiful appearance, seems gloomy.
The sad pages of history, when he was a prison, impose an unpleasant shade on his whole appearance.
Gloomy handsome
For example, the famous French castle Conciergerie in Paris. Built as the residence of kings, it turned into a prison castle. And since 1793 he generally gained a reputation as the most cruel prison in France. His prisoners were Marie Antoinette, Maximilian Robespierre, Emil Zola, Mata Hari. And from what angle you will not look at it, it is difficult to perceive it as the residence of kings, the word "prison" comes to mind. There are dozens of such examples: the famous castle If, Tower and Dover - the legendary English castles and prisons, simultaneously erected by William the Conqueror. Tower, standing on the banks of the Thames, is the historical center of London. Throughout its history, it has been a fortress and a palace, an arsenal, a mint and an observatory. But in the understanding of most people - this is the darkest prison in London. The list can be replenished with the castle of the Holy Angel in the center of Rome and the Austrian "Bastille", Mukachevo Castle "Palanok", as well as the "prisoner's pearl of the East - Tashkent Central. These buildings are really beautiful, but their beauty is gloomy and rarely causes delight.
Aristocratic facade
In the phrase “prison castle” the main term is “prison”, and then “castle”. Most often, these structures were initially assigned a different role, but the castle in Tobolsk was built from the very beginning as a prison.
It was him until 1989, in which she was transferred to the polar Urals in the urban-type village of Kharp. However, for some reason he does not look sad. Maybe it's all about color? Tobolsk prison castle (photo attached), especially its central facade, if not for the wall, would have looked like a theater in general. Or the palace of the local nobleman. Yes, and it is located in the city center.
Sophisticated Prisoner
But, in spite of external good looks, this is one of the darkest prisons in Russia, and in Siberia it is the most cruel. There was a deep conviction among the prisoners that it was better to go to hard labor than to the Tobolsk “shelter” (a covered prison), which was also famous for a variety of special places of punishment. There were “cold”, “dark” and “wet” cells, which were available in all prisons in Russia. But they were complemented by such sophisticated punishment cells as “hot”, “glass”, “humpback” and “dark”. In one it was only possible to sit or lie because of the low ceiling, in the "glass" - only to stand, the wall in the "hot" was a prison plate.
This prison castle was also famous for its inquisitorial torture (“slingshot” and “chairs”, “pads” and “chains”). Provided for such a measure of punishment as chained prisoner to the wall for a period of 5 years. Shackles were never removed from some prisoners, which changed the person’s gait and made her recognizable. The runaway was determined immediately. Here the prisoners were sheared in a special way - they shaved exactly half a head. This was done so that in the wild one could immediately recognize an escaped prison.
Large transshipment point
Tobolsk central is a gloomy page in the history of the city, which was a transit point for many convicts. Tobolsk was in dire need of a new, more spacious prison. And so, in 1838, a decision was made in St. Petersburg to erect a large prison castle in this city. The project belonged to the provincial architect Weigel. It was decided to complete the construction in 4 years, starting in 1841. Bidding for the construction and production of all works was carried out through the capital's newspapers, the choice of location and its layout were entrusted to the architect Suvorov. Why was the city center chosen, namely, the northwestern edge of the Trinity Cape? Firstly, because the number of political ones was growing steadily, and Tobolsk, in addition to the place of exile, became a major transit point - the flow went directly through the city. Secondly, it was here, near the Tobolsk Kremlin, that a proper site was formed as a result of the dismantling of the dilapidated fortress wall in 1782 and the demolition of the collapsing Trinity Church in 1791. Thus, the object being built immediately turned into a prison castle of the Tobolsk Kremlin. And now the main attraction of the city is the whole complex of buildings located on the Trinity Cape.
Siberian unfinished
The commissioning deadlines were delayed, Weigel was transferred to Perm, the architects changed, and the final stage went to the titular adviser and architect Chernenko. Already finished side wings did not arrange acceptance commission with high ceilings - they were redone. A lot of outbuildings were erected on the territory of the prison, including a hospital with a pharmacy and a shoe-making workshop.
A little later, in the midst of construction, it was decided to erect a church. All this delayed the commissioning of the facility. And on November 25, 1855, the prison castle (Tobolsk) and the church under it were consecrated in the name of Alexander Nevsky.
Keeping up with the times
This object cost the treasury 130 thousand rubles in silver. The prison was huge - on its territory there were four very large rooms for convicts, who went further down the stage. This prison was built in accordance with the requirements of that time to such places - and the hospital delighted the commission and the bakery.
Over time, a church was opened here. But V. G. Korolenko, who had been a prisoner here twice, described the horrors of this place of detention in his story “Yashka”. In addition to him, N. Chernyshevsky F. Dostoevsky, M. Petrashevsky and A. Solzhenitsyn, Fani Kaplan sat here.
Deceitful Goodness
The entire prison complex consisted of five buildings, which, as noted above, looked nothing like a prison. And the architecture (the building is made in the style of late classicism), to which the adjective "graceful" is applied in some articles, and the color of the buildings should not have burdened local residents with the realization of what a prison castle is really (Tobolsk). The photo attached below is given in confirmation of what was said.
Prison conditions, as already noted, were the most severe in Siberia. In prison, riots repeatedly broke out, the largest of which were in 1907 and 1918.
Black spot
Of course, there was a platform for the execution of prisoners, during the period of Stalin's repressions, it became a place of mass executions and burials. The Tobolsk complex, as psychics say, has accumulated a huge amount of negative energy, because the prisoners of Russia called this prison grave. Tobolsk is also known for being the administrative center of the province where Geogy Rasputin was born and lived - a person whose interest in him does not disappear over the years. The Kremlin of this city, which also includes a prison castle, is considered the pearl of Siberia - it is the only stone Kremlin beyond the Urals. He was also the winner of the stage of the contest “7 Wonders of Russia”.
“Places Not So Far” in South Palmyra
Of the institutions of this kind, the current and now Odessa prison castle deserves unconditional attention. The reason for its construction is the same - at the end of the XIX century the number of prisoners doubled. The building, built along the Lustdorf road, is certainly beautiful with the gloomy beauty that is not inherent in prison buildings, namely castles. The site allocated by the city authorities, headed by then-governor Georgy Marazli, was located near the Christian cemetery. The construction was carried out according to the project of A. O. Tomishko, who built the famous St. Petersburg prison “Crosses”. At the base of the castle was a cross, with a central tower inside. All diverging four-story wings had cellars. Along the edges of these buildings were solitary cells.
The prison was modern, with a hospital building with a hundred beds, all the necessary services, a forge, and so on. All this was built of high quality brick. In 1895, in Paris, this prison castle and Moscow were recognized as the best in Russia. Here sat Leo Trotsky, George Kotovsky and Mishka Yaponchik.
First a church, then a prison
The Irkutsk prison castle is notable for the fact that at first, along with a stone fence (1800), they began to build a church. It was erected above the central gate and was consecrated by Bishop Benjamin in 1803 in honor of Boris and Gleb. They raised her on public donations. The church had slender outlines and the right proportions, and a watch tower was given under the bell tower. The construction of the castle itself began only in 1857. It should be noted that the mayor I.I. Shatz amended the already approved project. It was proposed to add the necessary services - baths, kitchens in the required quantity and a house for the caretaker. More amendments provided for a more compact development of all buildings, it was decided to build a second floor above the main building, which allowed not to build a separate house for the caretaker. And already in 1958 the construction of the main stone building began. And since the old prison was immediately destroyed, the prisoners were temporarily placed in the old building of the cloth factory and began to use them as labor for the construction of the castle, even with a small wage.
Business approach
They built a prison castle all over the world, which made it possible to identify and put together the best workers. Of the prisoners, professional detachments of builders and firefighters were later composed. And although all the work was completed by the summer of 1960, the facility was not put into operation in November 1961. The prisoners were resettled there only in December 1861. Built according to the project of A. I. Losev, this castle has long been considered the most beautiful administrative building in Irkutsk. Construction work was carried out in it almost all the time - either building a workshop for sewing outerwear, then rebuilding the hospital building, building two 4 and 3-story buildings for apartments for staff and a cantor. Since 2006, a museum has been opened in the facility. The most famous prisoners were F.E. Dzerzhinsky and A.V. Kolchak. The current prison is located on Barrikad Street, at No. 63. You can get there by tram No. 4 and minibus No. 4k and 64 (Kazan Market stop).
Forgotten by humans and God
Danilovsky prison castle is now abandoned and is being destroyed. Built in the 60s of the XIX century as a local prison, it was used for its intended purpose until 1960. Then, in the buildings of the castle, the leadership of the Yaroslavl region arranged civil defense warehouses, liquidated in 2000. Now these ruins are a landmark of the city of Danilov.
The prison castle in Cherni, Tula province, was built by the architect A.A. Meingard in 1849-1855. The prison was small, two-story, with it there was a small church. But during the years of the Great Patriotic War, it was completely destroyed, even few photographs were preserved.
Part of the history of the city
It also has its own prison castle in the city of Chembara (since 1948 - the town of Belinsky). It is located in the Penza region. This building has undergone amazing metamorphoses. Built in the years 1854-1856 on Bazarnaya Square, it has survived to this day. From 1985 until recently, it housed the House of Children's Creativity, and earlier - a secondary school. After the revolution, a powerful stone wall was demolished, and the two-story building was given to secondary school No. 1. But there were casemates and torture chambers in the prison.
Recently, the house has been systematically put up for auction, but the public is petitioning the authorities to include the building in the list of cultural heritage sites of the city. But really, the building is about 160 years old, the history of the construction of the church with the iconostasis by the merchant of the 2nd guild K. A. Shugaev with him is interesting. He erected it with his money in memory of his parents.