San Simon Island | Spain

 

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San Simon is a small archipelago of four islands located in the Vigo bay to the south of Galicia. The two main islands are San Simon and San Anton. These islands have been inhabited since the fifth century by numerous monastic communities.

During the Spanish Civil War the islands became a prison island, much like Alcatraz, and its prison was reputed to hold as many as two thousand prisoners at any one time. 

Munkholmen island | Norway

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Munkholmen is a very small island, located to the north of Trondheim, Norway. In the past this island has served as a place of execution, a monastery, a fortress, a prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station.

Today, Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site. During the summer season you can enjoy lazy days at the beach, join a guided tour of the islet or have lunch at Munkholmen's very own café.

São Marcelo Fort | Brazil

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São Marcelo Fort started as a triangular bastion, built in wood in the beginning of the 17th century, on a reef in the entrance of the port of Salvador. The Fort has undergone several changes, extensions and adaptions throughout its military history.

It was built to protect the important port city Salvador from threats of the Dutch. The city had the largest number of forts during the colonial period of Brazil. In the end of the 18th century it served as a prison for undisciplined students and important historical characters.

Ross Island Penal Colony | India

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Ross Island is part of the remote Andaman Islands, an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal between India and Myanmar. It is a small island which has a circumference of only one mile.

Ross Island Penal Colony was part of a convict settlement that was established in 1858 by the British colonial government in India, primarily to jail a large number of prisoners from the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The prisoners where jailed in nearby Port Blair. On Ross Island, a church and barracks for troops and a Government House for the Chief Commissioner where located.

The remains of the colony got devastated after the 2004 tsunami, visits to the island are no longer possible.

Solovetsky Islands | Russia

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The Solovetsky Islands are six islands located in the forbidding waters of the White Sea in northern Russia, just 165km from the Arctic Circle. Known for their scenic beauty but difficult to access even today, the islands have long been used for both retreat and exile.

Founded in the 15th century, Solovetsky Monastery was one of Russia's most famous and holy monasteries, and became a major pilgrimage destination. But it was also a place of exile, and in the 20th century it was used as a brutal Soviet prison camp. Over a million prisoners are estimated to have died here, many of whom were priests, artists and writers. The prison was closed in 1939.

Today, Solovetsky Monastery is a World Heritage Site, museum, and home to a handful of monks.

(source: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/russia/solovki-solovetsky-monastery)

Fort Boyard | France

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Fort Boyard is a fort located between the islands of Aix and Oléron on the west coast of France. The fort was built to protect the harbors. Plans to build a fort date back to the 17th century but construction started in 1801 and lasted for 10 years.

In 1871 the fort was temporarily in use a prison. The fort was abandoned early 20th century. Today Fort Boyard is the location for a TV show.  

Dry Tortugas National Park | USA

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Halfway between Florida and Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico lies the remote Dry Tortugas National Park. The 100-square mile park is mostly open water with seven small islands. Spanish explorer Ponce de León gave the Dry Tortugas their name on his first visit in 1513. 

Fort Jefferson is located on Garden Key, the second largest island in the Dry Tortugas. Construction of the fort started in 1846 but was never completed. For some time the fort served as a prison.  

Alcatraz Island | USA

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Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco. From 1934 until 1963, Alcatraz was America's premier maximum-security prison and housed some of the country’s most difficult and dangerous felons. 

No inmate ever successfully escaped The Rock, as the prison was nicknamed, although more than a dozen known attempts were made over the years.

Château d'If | France

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Château d'If is a fortress located on the French island of If, the smallest island in the Frioul archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea, near Marseille. The Chateau d'If was used to imprison political dissidents from 1580 until 1871. 

Giant Tortoise on Prison Island | Tanzania

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Changuu Island is a small island about 6 km north-west of Stone Town, Zanzibar. The island is also known as Prison Island. The island was uninhabited until the 1860s when they started a prison on the island for rebellious slaves prior to shipping them abroad or selling them at the slave market in Zanzibar's Stone Town. 

 

In 1919 the British governor of Seychelles sent a gift of four Aldabra giant tortoises to Changuu from the island of Aldabra. These tortoises bred quickly and by 1955 they numbered around 200 animals. 

Les Îles de Lérins | The Lérins Islands

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The Lérins Islands is a small archipelago just off the coast of Cannes in the south of France. The two largest islands in this group are the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat. 

Saint-Honorat Island has been home to a community of monks since the fifth century. And Sainte-Marguerite Island is known for its fortress-prison.  

Stamps

Two pretty old stamps and three stamps with smallest denomination I ever saw: € 0,01 per stamp.

The Kingston, a convict settlement in Norfolk Island

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Norfolk Island is a tiny 8km x 5km island located somewhere in the middle between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance. It has a population of about 2,300 and Its capital is Kingston.

 

The Kingston was a convict settlement between 1788-1855. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. 

Did you know that the island was handed over in 1856 to the people of Pitcairn as a permanent home. It is the descendants of the Pitcainers who live on Norfolk today. Want to know more about this amazingstory?

Stamps

Four stamps that shows the beauty of Norfolk Island.

Robben Island, South Africa

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Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base. During the apartheid years Robben Island was used to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of the 27 years he was imprisoned on the island.

 

Since 1997 Robben Island has been a museum acting as a focal point of South African heritage. The island was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999.

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In 2010 South Africa issued 13 stamps about crafts. This stamp depicts Zulu Neckpieces.