Jails

Built in 1869, this now-retired structure looks more like a medieval fortress than a county lock-up.

Charleston's historic city jail once held everyone from pirates to Civil War POWs.

An odd, ancient window that may have once been part of a brutal prison is embedded in the side of New York's Police Plaza.

This circular Iranian jail was once a political prison run by the country's secret police.

The world's only three-story rotary jail is now a museum to a bizarre trend in prison design.

Opinions differ as to whether this Arizona tree was actually used as a Wild West jail, but that hasn't stopped the town from capitalizing on it.

This tiny historic jail along Route 66 is the perfect fit for exactly one criminal and their partner-in-crime.

This historic island prison holds one of the dungeons from the Count of Monte Cristo even though it is a work of fiction.

This abandoned prison castle has become an imposing gallery of graffiti art.

This ancient Roman prison is decorated with an upside-down cross not as blasphemy but as saintly tribute.

The first spinning jail built in the United States is the only one that still turns.

Once housing children next to hardened criminals this historic jail once displayed Ned Kelly's skull until it was stolen.

This historic Canadian jail was once the longest operating prison in the country and is now open for people to incarcerate themselves.

Forgotten jail cells beneath this Scottish town hall are now used for delightfully artful storage.

Lucerne's central prison was converted into a tourist hotel with a bare minimum of changes.

This remarkably simple jail went over a century without an escape.

This former prison now houses a lovely library devoted to Quebec's oft-maligned English-speaking history.