Dark TourismTop 10

Destinations on my list

10- OLD MELBOURNE GAOL

The Old Melbourne Gaol Museum is located on Russell Street, Australia. The building was used briefly during World War II and formally ceased operating as a prison in 1924. The prison is famous for

holding and executing some of Australia’s most infamous criminals.

Parts of the building have been incorporated in to the RMIT Univeresity building and the rest have been turned into a museum. The museum was

constructed in 1839.

Within the museum are displays, information and memorabilia of the prisoners and staff. The museum did at one point display the skull of Ned Kelly, however it was stolen in 1978. The museum does however display

the pencil used by Colin Campbell Ross to protest his innocence in writing, before being executed, it was later discovered that he was

wrongly convicted.

OLD MELBOURNE GAOL

9- ROBBEN ISLAND PRISON

Robben Island is located in Table Bay, seven miles outside Cape Town. The island was used as a prison for political prisoners at

various times between the 17th and 20th centuries.

The island has also been used as a leper colony, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base.

  Today the island is a popular tourist destination and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999. Tours of the island and prison are led

by guides who were formerly prisoners there.

One of the Prison’s most famous inmates was Nelson Mandela. Classified as the lowest grade of prisoner, Class D Mandela was

imprisoned there for 18 years.

ROBBEN ISLAND

8- CHANGI PRISON MUSEUM

Changi Prison was a prison located in Changi, in the eastern part of Singapore.

The Prison was built by the British in 1936.

Following the fall of Singapore in February 1942, the Japanese military detained around 3,000 civilians in Changi Prison, which was only built to

hold 600 prisoners.

The Japanese used the British Army's Selarang Barracks, near the prison, as a prisoner of war camp, holding roughly 50,000 soldiers.

The Japanese buried the Allied prisoners of war at the now demolished Changi Prison.

While there, the Prisoners of war created a simple chapel in order to have a place of solace. The chapel was re-created in 1988 and was later

relocated when the Changi Prison was demolished

CHANGI PRISON MUSEUM

7- WORLD TRADE CENTRE SITE

The World Trade Centre complex originally stood on the site until it was destroyed on the September 11th, 2001 during the 9/11

attacks.

The attack took place during the morning when two hijacked planes, destined for Los Angeles, were intentionally

crashed into the two towers of the World Trade Centre.

The towers collapsed within two hours of the collisions.

It was later discovered that Islamic terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda organized and executed the attacks.

Around 3,000 people died.

WORLD TRADE CENTRE SITE

6- THE CAMBODIA LANDMINE MUSEUM

The Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Facility is a museum located in Cambodia. The museum began when tourists heard stories

about a Khmer man, Ra, who cleared landmines and had a house full of defused ordnance.

Ra began charging a dollar to see his collection, using the money to help further his activities. Thus began the Cambodia Landmine Museum.

The ‘new’ museum opened in May 2007 and currently houses a 4 gallery museum as well as being the home to 27 children.

‘The Cambodia Landmine Museum exists for 3 reasons:• To tell Aki Ra’s story• To tell the world about the horrors of landmines and explain that war is

only half the problem. The aftermath of war continues long after the shooting stops.

• To care for the children who live at the museum.’ - Wikipedia

THE CAMBODIA LANDMINE MUSEUM

5- ELMINA CASTLE

Elmina Castle was built by the Portuguese in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina, St. George of the Mine Castle. The castle was the very first trading post

built on the Gulf of Guinea, which makes it the oldest European building in existence following the Sahara.

The castle was originally built as a trade settlement however it laser became an essential stop for the slave trade on route to the Atlantic.

The Dutch seized control of the castle in 1637, and took over the whole of the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the control of the Dutch until 1814. The Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort,

became a possession of the British Empire in 1872.

Britain granted the Gold Coast its independence in 1957, and control of the castle was transferred to present-day Ghana.

ELMINA CASTLE

4- THE KIGALI GENOCIDE MEMORIAL CENTRE

The Kigali Memorial Centre was opened in April 2004 on the 10th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide. The Centre was built on a site

where over 250,000 people, who were murdered due to genocidal crimes, are buried.

The centre consists of three dominant exhibitions. The largest of the 3 documents the genocide in 1994. The second is a children’s memorial

and the third is an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world.

‘The exhibition at the Kigali Memorial Centre introduces several genocides and genocidal-type situations. It does not give examples of all genocidal massacres because of limited space. It can only illustrate

a few examples, representing a tragic cross-section of a century of genocide.’ – Kigali Memorial Centre Website

THE KIGALI GENOCIDE MEMORIAL CENTRE

3- AUSCHWITZ AND BIRKENAU

Auschwitz concentration camps were a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in different

areas around Poland which were captured by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The camp consisted of Auschwitz I, the ‘base camp’, Auschwitz II–Birkenau, the extermination camp and Auschwitz III–Monowitz, a labour

camp to staff, and 45 satellite camps.

During the war, the camp was staffed by around 6,500 to 7,000 members of the German Schutzstaffel, the SS.

Of the 405,000 registered prisoners at the camps, 65,000 survived. Various evaluations suggest that roughly 1.6 million were murdered

however an exact total will never be known.

AUSCHWITZ AND BIRKENAU

2- HIROSHIMA PEACE MEMORIAL MUSEUM

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan.

The museum is dedicated to documenting the atomic bombings which  were conducted by the United States in August 1945, during the last

stages of World War II.

The two bombings were the first and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in wartime.

“Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima's

deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community.” -  Hiroshima Peace

Memorial Museum's English guide

HIROSHIMA PEACE MEMORIAL MUSEUM

1- DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP MEMORIAL

On the 22nd of March, 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed the Reich Chancellor, the concentration

camp was set up in Dachau, with the intention of imprisoning political prisoners.

The site was used as a ‘Model Camp’ for other concentration camps and was nicknamed the School of

Violence by the SS men who worked there.

Over the 12 years the camp was running over 200.000 prisoners from various parts of Europe were imprisoned

there.

On April 29 1945, American troops liberated the survivors.

DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP MEMORIAL