Ucciardone prison
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The Ucciardone prison is the central and most famous prison in the Sicilian capital, Palermo . It is located by the city's port on Via Enrico Albanese 3 .
history
Ucciardone Prison was built in the 1830s. The name comes from the Sicilian u ciarduni , which in turn goes back to the French chardon and the Latin carduus and means thistle . These plants are said to have been grown at the site of the prison. During fascism , the “iron prefect” Cesare Mori was tasked with fighting the mafia , which is why the prison was also called Villa Mori at the time .
In the first decades after the Second World War, the fight against the Mafia was less resolute, with the imprisoned Mafiosi able to continue their business largely unmolested from prison. The name Grand Hotel dell'Ucciardone comes from this period . For the maxi process of the 1980s, additional reinforced concrete structures were built, including the so-called auditorium bunker . Currently, Ucciardone Prison is considered one of the worst prisons in Italy due to overcrowding and the state of construction. Repeated protests by prisoners and politicians as well as reprimands from the EU prompted the Italian government in 2013 to expand the country's prisoner capacity.
Prominent inmates
- Tommaso Buscetta , mafia boss and key witness
- Gaspare Mutolo , Mafia boss and key witness
Other inmates
Web links
- Entry on the website of the Italian Ministry of Justice (Italian)
- Description on associazioneantigone.it (Italian)
Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 58 ″ N , 13 ° 21 ′ 28 ″ E