Medieval prison of Olocau del Rey

The medieval past of Olocau del Rey is palpable in numerous buildings. But there is an incredible place, which produces the tremendous sensation of knowing what a torture room was like in the Middle Ages. It is about jail, which was built in 1595, and where you have the feeling that those walls still speak and count on the suffering that occurred there.

 

The medieval prison was built before the need to dispose a pit to be able to imprison those convicted of the Justices of Olocau del Rey. The previous prison was in the Castle of Olcaf, that like all fortress had its dungeons. Today, the sentence dictated by one of the Justices is preserved in the municipal archive.

 

The current jail is made up of three rooms. The first room was where the jailer was, the second one, where the prisoners were of minor importance or small crime, and the third was the pit of the dungeons, where the prisoners of mayor convictions were found. Precisely, this pit can be visited from its upper part, passing through a small door and a walkway that allows you to perfectly imagine the incredible conditions in which these prisoners were. The jail of Olocau del Rey was in operation until after the Civil War (at this time it was only used as a dungeon, to transfer the prisoners to other prisons with greater security).

 

In Els Ports there were more prisons in different towns, but this is the only tourist one that can be visited and that allows you to know a bit more about the past in this area.



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