What to see in Alcatraz, how to visit the island, history of prison, because they have closed, better times to book excursions, panoramas.
Tourist information
Alcatraz Island is located off San Francisco Bay and is part of the state of California in the United States.
The name Alcatraz, of Spanish origin, which translated into Italian means pelican, was assigned to the island as it had the characteristic of being inhabited by pelicans.
But what makes Alcatraz island very famous is the presence of the homonymous maximum security prison from which it has always been very difficult to escape.
Going back in history, it can be seen that around 1850, following the spread of the search for gold in California, many ships sailed here and for this reason a lighthouse was built to guide them in the port of San Francisco.
But in the year 1909 it was decided to build a prison right there and this meant that the lighthouse had to be moved to another place.
Initially the prison was used for military purposes but later, in 1934, it became federal and maximum security.
What see
In Alcatraz prison the detainees were treated very harshly as those who were sent here were considered very dangerous criminals who in several cases had already tried to escape from other prisons.
The cells were very small in size and used only by one prisoner.
Then there were the isolation cells intended for the most unruly, who stood out for being very cold and dark.
Being able to work inside the prison was a privilege granted only to those who earned it with total respect for the prison internal rules.
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The Alcatraz penitentiary remained open for a total of 29 years and during this time there were 26 attempts to escape which were unsuccessful.
The inmates who first escaped from Alcatraz were Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe who on 16 December 1937 managed to cross the bars of a small prison window and, protected from the fog, gained escape by sea to San Francisco.
The most famous case of escape from Alcatraz was that concerning the prisoners Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin who, with extreme dexterity, managed to escape passing through the ventilation system, after leaving dummies on the cots in their place to mask longer their absence from the cells, so as to have a longer period of time to gain freedom.
This is the true story that inspired the famous film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood as the main protagonist.
Due to the high operating costs, in 1963 it was decided to close this prison until the reopening of a few decades exclusively for tourism purposes.
On the island of Alcatraz it is possible to visit the penitentiary of the same name through guided excursions booked in advance.
Two excursions are made per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Many tourists prefer the afternoon one, in order to enjoy the spectacle of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset with the city of San Francisco in the background.
It is the suspension bridge, on the homonymous strait from which it takes its name, which connects the Pacific Ocean with the Bay of San Francisco, one of the largest engineering works of this type in the world, almost 3 km long with two well-tall towers 225 meters each above the sea level.
