I admit that I didn't see other prisons like this (Ok, I didn't see many prisons in my life ^_^), but every time I see this castle I think it's really awesome as a prison ;)
Even if it was building in a ancient style, this building is just about 80 years old and it called "Santa Caterina in Brana" (Brana is the name of the river close to it).
It's a little and "soft" prison, just for people who are awaiting trial for minor crimes, so there aren't very dangerous people who live there. The building is almost near at the center of the city (Pistoia, Italy) and I see it very often because I usually buy foods in the market close to it (I took the prevous pic from the parking of the market ^_^).
Many years ago, when I worked in taking care of drug and alcohol addictioners for a local institution, I was inside this prison. Don't worry, it was just for some documents about a person who was our patient (a sad story, a young guy who had drug's problem and he was deaf and mute).
I was there just for few minutes, but I have to say that it was an hard experience for my claustrophobia ;)
In the following pic (source) you can see the entrance of this prison:
See ya later!
Silvia
