Are you aware of the situation in prisons? Answer to this question is not known by most people…. We know about prisons only from movies and TV shows. But is reality like that? Electric shocks, beating, solitaries without water, or luxury accommodation with restaurants, hotels, children’s playground and a gym, all this exists and all this is possible in 10 strangest prisons in the world.

Gorgeous glass windows and a building from stainless steel… Is it business offices? No. That is a prison with five stars in Austria. In there are: gym, sport center, tennis courts and guest rooms. There is also a library, chapel and a multimedia room. “Its tenants are fine criminals”, who’s punishment does not exceed eighteen months of imprisonment. For this wealthiest Bolivian prison San Pedro offers: school, hospital, shoe shop, hair dresser and a hotel. Of course all this is very expensive, so that prisoners can make some additional money by working in stores of a prison. Like I said, here for money you can buy anything: from a private cell with a bathroom and a TV, to cigarettes, alcohol and cocaine.

In Norway they went one step further and created a first ecological prison in the world. It uses solar panels for receiving energy, they make their own food, recycle almost everything and try to reduce to emission of harmful fuels to a minimum. Considering that the make more food than they need, excess is sold to other prisons. During summer days when North Sea is warmer they are allowed to swim in it.

Much worse conditions in neighboring Venezuela or Russia where capacities are so overbooked that instead two prisoners, a cell is shared by ten. Fights, murders, rapes are a everyday occurrence here.

Probably best known for everyone and most guarded is the prison Alcatraz or The Rock in San Francisco. First is served as a military and later as a federal prison, all until 1963. It was functional for 29 years, and no one successfully escaped from it during that time. Today this prison is opened to tourists.