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Italy is turning an abandoned island that was once home to a spooky prison into an Alcatraz-style tourist attraction
Italy is turning an abandoned island that was once home to a spooky prison into an Alcatraz-style tourist attraction
Monica HumphriesJun 12, 2021, 17:22 IST
The prison was built in the late 18th century and has been abandoned for decades.Stefano Batistini/ShutterStock/Alessandra Benedetti - Corbis/Corbis/Getty Images
Like California's Alcatraz, Italy plans to turn an abandoned prison island into a tourist attraction.
The deserted island once held infamous criminals, bandits, anarchists, and political dissidents.
The $86 million plan will turn a prison bakery into a café and a football locker room into a hostel.
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Tucked between Rome and Naples is Santo Stefano, a tiny island with a significant past.
The island is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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The island is Italy's version of Alcatraz and plans are in place to transform it into a tourist attraction.
A three-story building on the island had 99 cells.
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Take a look at the island's eerie history and how the country plans to transform it into an attraction.
Two views from inside prison cells.
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The island was built in the 18th century, where infamous people have spent their final years.
A painting by Vincenzo Montefusco shows Luigi Settembrini, a politician, who was confined to the prison of Santo Stefano.
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The jail was shut down in 1965. Officials hope to preserve the abandoned buildings today.
One of the island's many abandoned buildings.
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For example, the prison cells, which form a horseshoe shape, may become an amphitheater or event space.
The building, which holds 99 cells, has a circular shape.
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There are plans to turn a former football changing room and the jail director's house into a hostel.
An image of a cell, which has paint peeling of its walls.
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Other areas of the former prison, like the church, bakery, and gardens, are expected to be renovated as well.
The island's only church.
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As the island's abandoned past is expected to come back to life, officials hope to create new history on the land.
A view through a grated window into the prison's courtyard.
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