|
|
|
Permanent exhibition
The Musée québécois de culture populaire (a Folk Culture Museum) offers tourists a whole visit-experience in the Old Prison of Trois-Rivières adjoining its main building. The Old Prison opened in 1822 and was classified a historic monument. The guides (some of them are former inmates) will tell you about life in this prison closed in 1986 for unhealthy conditions. Powerful videotaped testimony communicates the reality of this microcosm of society. The cells and insolation cells will surely make you feel happy to be free!
Thanks to renovations that faithfully reproduce the old prison, visitors can get a sense of what life behind bars was really like at the time. Upon arrival, the visitor goes through the ritual of filling out a prison card complete with photograph and fingerprints. Those looking for an even more intense experience can opt for voluntary imprisonment.
A trip through the cells brings home the realities of daily life behind bars: boredom, rage, promiscuity, despair, solidarity... Sex and violence are part of prison life as well, a fact made obvious by graffiti, pornography and the Law of the underworld. Cells and their chains speak of extreme conditions... The HOLE, a windowless area, with no light, no hope... the prisoner's ultimate isolation.
Historical note: The Old Prison of Trois-Rivières opened in 1822 and was classified a historic monument in 1978. At the time of its closing in 1986, it was the oldest prison operating in Canada.
www.enprison.com
|
|
