Ulucanlar Prison Museum

Hikayemiz

The Ulucanlar Prison Museum is a former state prison in Ankara, Turkey that was converted into a prison museum following restoration by Altındağ Municipality. The museum was opened in 2011. It is the first museum of its kind in Turkey.PrisonHistoryUlucanlar Prison was established in 1925 in the Ulucanlar neighborhood of Altındağ district in Ankara, which had recently become the new capital of the Turkish Republic.The facility was built as a military depot in 1923, on an area of 34000m2. In its history, it was renamed several times and called "Cebeci Tevkifhanesi" (Cebeci Jail), "Cebeci Umumi Hapishanesi" (Cebeci Public Prison), "Cebeci Sivil Cezaevi" (Cebeci Civilian Prison), "Ankara Merkez Kapalı Cezaevi" (Ankara Central Closed Prison) and finally "Ulucanlar Merkez Kapalı Cezaevi" (Ulucanlar Central Closed Prison).The correction and detention facilities in Turkey are officially categorized in three security level groups as closed (kapalı), semi-open (yarı açık) and open (açık) prisons. Closed prisons are maximum security penitentiaries with external and internal control that hold violent prisoners and those judged most likely to escape. Semi-open prisons are medium security correctional institutions without external control but with only internal physical barriers that house prisoners bearing a moderate escape risk who also have a job. Open prisons are low security, work-oriented prison camps with no external control and internal physical barriers that hold inmates who are allowed to have limited interaction with the public. As of September 1999, the mixed-sex prison hosted 776 detainees and prisoners held in nineteen wards in the close and semi-open prison sections. The prison's healthcare facility had a capacity of forty beds.