Daugavpils Prison

Daugavpils Prison, colloquially known as “The White Swan”, is a prison in Latvia, located in the central part of the city of Daugavpils in Gajok at: 18 November Street, 66A. It is an architectural monument of local significance and is protected by the state.[1]

History

The prison was built in 1863 on the outskirts of the city.[2] Initially, the façade of the prison building was red, and it was known as the “Red House”.[3] According to documents from the prison archive, the architect of the building was its first inmate.[4] Today the prison is a whitewashed ostrog fortress, surrounded by solid walls with watchtowers at the corners. The building is topped with a weather vane shaped like a white swan. This combination of white walls and a swan-shaped weather vane gave the prison its name.[5]

Present day

“The White Swan” is the only prison in Latvia where the watchtowers have no guards. In addition to the armed security patrolling the prison grounds, surveillance of inmates is carried out through electronic equipment.[6]

The “White Swan” currently holds the serial killer Kaspars Petrovs, accused of murdering 38 elderly women, 13 of which were proven in court.[7]

In 2008 the “White Swan” prison was merged with the Grīva Prison (also located in Daugavpils) in order to reduce administrative costs. The combined prison received a new name — Daugavgrīva.[8]

References

  1. ^ Prison on the website of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Latvia Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine[1]
  2. ^ "Will the "White Swan" remain in the city centre?". Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  3. ^ "The symbolism of unity through the prism of time". Archived from the original on 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  4. ^ "List of prisons". Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  5. ^ Konstantin Kazakov — A Strange Country: Daugavpils
  6. ^ "The "White Swan" will be relocated". Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  7. ^ A book has been written about the maniac
  8. ^ Never to see freedom!

Media related to Daugavpils prison at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.