“Did you know that Kresty Prison wasn’t always a prison?” Today, we stand before the infamous Kresty Prison. It is officially known as Investigative Isolator No 1. Its story is long and filled with unexpected twists.
Let’s journey back to the 1730s. This site was once a wine warehouse complex. It was called Vinny Gorodok or Wine Town. All the wine for Saint Petersburg was stored here. Imagine this place filled with barrels instead of cells.
Fast forward to 1861. The Emancipation reform changed Russia. Serfs gained freedom but faced new consequences. They were now tried in state prisons. The need for prison space grew greatly. In 1867, the wine warehouse transformed. It became a 700-bed prison with male and female sections. Vladislav Lvov oversaw this reconstruction. He was the chairman of the Saint Petersburg Prison Committee.
Twenty years later, Kresty Prison was too small. A new prison project began. Antony Tomishko designed it. He was an Austrian-Hungarian architect. Tomishko took inspiration from European prisons. He liked the Moabit prison design. It had three blocks joining a single tower. The Philadelphia system also inspired him. It used a star shape for observation. This was known as the Panopticon system.
Tomishko designed two cross-shaped buildings. The cross shape allowed easy observation. It also had religious meaning. It was meant to encourage inmates to repent. A Russian Revival church connected the crosses. This church had five onion domes. It sat atop an administrative building. The prison included a hospital a morgue and even a blacksmith.
Construction began in 1884. Prisoners built the new prison. They lived on-site during construction. The prison used electric lighting and central heating. It also had effective ventilation. Kresty was one of the first buildings in Russia to do so. Tomishko installed a monument to John Howard. Howard was an English prison reformer. At the time, Kresty Prison was considered the most advanced and largest prison in Europe. It was designed for 1150 detainees but had 960 cells.
Legend says Tomishko bragged to Tsar Alexander III. He said he built the prison for him. The Tsar supposedly replied that he built it for himself. The legend continues with a secret cell. Cell number 1000 holds Tomishko’s dead body and his ghost haunts the prison. This legend is likely false.
In Imperial Russia, Kresty Prison held criminals and political prisoners. Alexander Kerensky and Leon Trotsky were inmates. In 1906, 200 State Duma deputies spent time here. They signed the Vyborg Manifesto.
During the February Revolution in 1917, Kresty was stormed. Soldiers and workers freed inmates. They burned prison paperwork. The Bolsheviks wanted to destroy police records and emulate the Storming of the Bastille.
After the revolution, Kresty held ministers and police officers. Prime Minister Boris Stürmer died here. The prison was renamed in 1920. It became the Second Special Camp for Involuntary Labor.
During the Great Purges, Kresty overflowed. Cells held 15 to 20 inmates. Kazimir Malevich and Nikolay Zabolotsky were among them. Anna Akhmatova’s poem Requiem features the prison. A monument to Akhmatova stands across the river.
During the Siege of Leningrad, many died of starvation. Some detainees joined penal military units. Kresty held those stealing food. It also held German POWs.
In 1964, Kresty became a pre-trial detention facility. In the 1990s, it held over 12500 inmates. This was ten times its capacity. In 1993, a museum opened inside Kresty. It showed the prison’s history and unusual objects.
In 2017, Kresty Prison closed. Inmates moved to Kresty-2. A new modern facility. The Kresty building was sold at auction. The future of Kresty is uncertain. Perhaps a hotel or entertainment complex? The building remains a protected landmark.
As we conclude our visit to Kresty today remember that Kresty Prison has witnessed centuries of Russian history, and remains a testament to the country’s tumultuous past.