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Italian prisons are often discussed in the context of human rights, overcrowding, organized crime, and the challenge of managing highly volatile inmates. When people search for the most dangerous Italian prisons, they are usually looking for institutions associated with gang activity, strict security conditions, violent incidents, or a history of housing mafia leaders and other high-risk offenders. This article explores 15 of the most dangerous prisons in Italy in a broad, evidence-based sense, focusing on the realities of prison security, inmate classification, and the pressure that overcrowding places on the system. The goal is not sensationalism, but a clear understanding of why some facilities are considered especially dangerous for prisoners, staff, and the state. By examining these institutions in detail, we can better understand the structure of the Italian penitentiary system and the challenges it faces.
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00:00From murderous mafiosos to scheming terrorists,
00:03Italy's prisons are inhabited by some of the most cold-blooded people in the world.
00:07Its ongoing issue of overcrowding also means that these places are not safe,
00:10even for the prison guards.
00:12Brace yourself as I give you a peek over the walls of Italy's 15 most dangerous prisons.
00:19Number 15. Bagliarelli Prison.
00:21Bagliarelli Prison is based in Sicily,
00:23and its main objective was to deal with organized crime on this beautiful Italian island.
00:27Little did they know, the grim walls of this prison would force one of the mafia's most ruthless
00:32killers to take his own life. Gaetano Lopresti was a leader of the Sicilian mafia,
00:36but wasn't careful over the phone and mentioned a lot of information that was useful for the police.
00:41Despite being in a maximum security prison, he was afraid of revenge killings,
00:44so he decided to take his own life before anyone else could. This was back in 2008,
00:49but conditions in recent times don't seem to be great either. Due to the riot that erupted
00:53during COVID-19, the place is overcrowded by 7%. But as we'll see in this video,
00:58there are much worse prisons across the country. This prison is just a starter to whet your appetite.
01:04Number 14. Regina Coeli. Rome's Regina Coeli is a former convent for nuns,
01:08and went from housing saints to sinners. But sometimes, behind these walls,
01:12the biggest danger for prisoners is themselves. In this prison was a young man named Valerio
01:17Guerrieri. He suffered from a severe mental disorder, so living inside prison did not make
01:22things easier. His records say that he told guards that he did not present any danger to
01:26other criminals, but did present a danger to himself. He was deemed incompatible with prison
01:31and should have been transported to a psychiatric ward. However, there was no space for him at the
01:35time, so they decided to keep him in this prison for the foreseeable future. However, when a prisoner
01:40tells you that they're at risk of self-harm, you simply cannot leave them to their own devices.
01:44But this prison was understaffed, and there wasn't even a guard on every floor. And tragically,
01:49the psychiatrist who was supposed to see him never turned up. His fellow inmates even admitted that
01:54he looked like he was preparing something. On the 24th of February 2017, Valerio was found in the
01:59bathroom of his cell, with a sheet tied around his neck. He had committed suicide at just 22 years old.
02:04Number 13. Vicenza Prison. Vicenza Prison is no stranger to overcrowding either. In November 2019,
02:10100 prisoners were transferred to the prison, all of which had links relating to organized crime.
02:16This prison's total capacity is 286, but already holds more prisoners than its capacity. The arrival
02:21of these extra 100 brought it up to 415. They sent crowds to an already overcrowded prison.
02:29Italian politician Mara Pizzotto mockingly referred to this transfer as prison tourism,
02:34and means that some prisoners will need to transfer for miles and miles to appear during their trials,
02:39and it might be a tad naive to transport mobsters across the country without anticipating some sort
02:44of surprise attack along the way. Mafiosos in jail are reserved for 41 BIS penal code,
02:50which prevents them from running their clan from behind bars, so they're subject to bigger scrutiny
02:54than most. When this law was introduced in the 1970s, five car bomb attacks were implemented across
02:59Rome, Florence, and Milan, killing 10 people and injuring dozens more. As we'll explore,
03:04the mafia continued to prevail inside Italy's prisons.
03:07Number 12. Removal Center for Illegal Immigrants
03:09At number 12, I'm going to throw a little curveball your way, for this is not a prison by name,
03:14but its inhabitants like to think differently. Italy is situated along the Mediterranean Sea,
03:18and on the other side is war-torn Libya, so thousands upon thousands have fled across the
03:23sea in small boats in search of a better life. But through these centers, the better life they
03:27searched for can often be even worse. In the documentary Justice in Italy, one of the residents said,
03:44And he then shows the camera crew around.
04:03So, this is not called a prison, but the people inside are forced to live here under extremely
04:08harsh and dangerous conditions, and if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it might
04:12well be a duck. Number 11. Uchiardone Prison
04:15But moving back to conventional prisons, and back to Sicily, we have Palermo's Uchiardone Prison.
04:21The New York Times, in 1991, wrote about this prison as,
04:24It might not be a bad idea to install a revolving door. That way, at least,
04:27the mafiosi would not have to strain themselves unduly as they go in and out.
04:31This prison was sarcastically referred to as the Grand Hotel, and the prison allowed mafia bosses
04:36to wear fine-cut suits and enjoy extravagant meals. Mobster Michel Catalano once held a lobster banquet
04:42in the gym of this jail, whereas a godfather got to host his daughter's wedding in the prison's chapel.
04:47But this has all changed through the Sicilian governor, Rita Barbera. She decided that wearing
04:52any designer labels such as Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Versace, Louis Vuitton, and Armani are all banned.
04:58One mob wife said,
04:59My husband will be left naked. Barbera said that the popular image of this jail is linked to the
05:04silk suits of godfathers, and we need to cancel that image. The jail is not limited to organized
05:08crime members. In fact, many of them are low-income immigrants and Italians who get used clothing
05:13donations from prisoner charities. So now, in this prison, it's a lot more difficult to distinguish
05:17between the mafiosos and ordinary criminals. But given that mafiosi like to dissolve their enemies
05:22in acid, maybe the idea of making them indistinguishable from other criminals is not such a good one.
05:28Number 10. Badu-e-Karos. Based on the island of Sardinia, Badu-e-Karos prison is the home of
05:33violent mobsters from the Cosa Nostra, Camorra, and Ndrangheta. Mullah Kreker, a leader of what's
05:38known as the Kurdish Taliban, also resides between these walls. With so many unsavory characters all
05:43under the same roof, conflict is inevitable. And in January of 2022, blood was spilled on the prison
05:49floors. A quarrel broke out between two prisoners, and things escalated rather quickly. The reasons behind
05:54the argument are not known. But eventually, punches were leveled at the faces of one another, causing
05:58one of them to collapse on the ground in a pool of blood. This person was expected to undergo
06:03maxillofacial surgery, and of course, move to a different prison. There are people you simply
06:07don't mess with inside this prison. However, the key mafiosi are often isolated from the rest of the
06:12prisoners, and sometimes even serve life sentences in isolation. Marcello Dell'Anna, a former leader of
06:17the Sacra Corona Unita Mafia in southern Italy, describes it as a tomb for the living. As we'll explore
06:23in other prisons on this list, these isolated cells are often compared to torture chambers, and depriving
06:28prisoners of human contact gradually drives them insane. Number 9, Prison of Pisa Don Bosco. At this
06:34prison in Pisa, inmates had finished their daily exercise. They were asked to go back to their cells, but they
06:40refused. Instead, they decided to set fire to the furnishings in this building. This was in 2022, but almost a
06:45replica of this event happened in August of 2017, following the suicide of a young Tunisian inmate.
06:50The prisoners protested and threw furniture and set fires. They argued that the current conditions
06:55in the prison were degrading. One of the prisoners compared the prison to a keg full of gunpowder
06:59waiting to go off. Due to the presence of prisoners who are difficult to manage, due to the dilapidated
07:04structure, as well as the serious lack of staff, especially in the role of non-commissioned officers,
07:08is a powder keg and deserves the right attention from the administrator's top management prison.
07:12If these four walls could talk, they would not have nice things to say. The degrading
07:16conditions of the inmates go back as far as the 1970s. Franco Serratine was a militant anarchist
07:22and anti-fascist who was sent to this jail, and the guards decided to beat his revolutionary
07:26spirit right out of him. He complained to the doctor of headaches and was prescribed some
07:30medication, but Serratine died the next day. His group confronted the prison's doctor,
07:34Alberto Mamoli, and shot him three times, believing that the doctor had killed him.
07:39Number eight, Modena Prison. This prison, in the southern city of Fogia, also experienced
07:43major riots at the height of the pandemic in 2020. In fact, 50 inmates managed to escape.
07:49The place was in chaos, and furniture was set on fire too. One of the mattresses let off such a
07:53powerful smoke that inhaling the smoke killed one of the inmates. During these riots, the prison
07:58infirmary was raided, and many of them raided the meds' cabinets. Quite disturbingly, a total of six
08:02inmates overdosed. It's difficult to tell whether they were former addicts, didn't know how much they
08:07should take, or worst of all, if this was a cooperated suicide attempt.
08:10Number seven, San Vitore Prison. Milan's San Vitore was once a place to hold political
08:15prisoners during Italy's period under fascism. In fact, Nazi SS guards would carry out torture
08:19right between these walls. In the 21st century, this jail continues to be the scene of gross
08:24inhumanity. Normally, the prison chaplain is the person you can turn to in your darkest hour,
08:28but in this jail, the man supposedly spreading the word of God was the real criminal.
08:32Fr. Alberto Barin was accused by six non-Italian inmates of demanding sexual favors in exchange
08:38for food and better living conditions. His abuse took place between the years of 2008
08:42and 2012, but he had been working there since 1997. Like many prisons on this list, the beginning
08:48of the COVID-19 pandemic caused riots and mayhem. In San Vitore Prison, they barred any visits
08:53from friends or family, and the inmates just flipped. Chaos ensued, with inmates climbing to
08:58the top and asking for pardons. Some of the prison was also set on fire as well.
09:05Later that year, it was revealed that this prison was incredibly overcrowded. This premises is meant
09:10to hold only 754 inmates, but it was holding 973, an overcrowding figure of 29%. But this is now the
09:18norm rather than exception in a lot of Italy's prisons. Number six, Rebibia Prison. Rome's Rebibia
09:24Prison is home to the famous assassin Mehmet Ali Akka, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II.
09:30Francesco Schettino, the former shipmaster of the Costa Concordia, where 32 people died,
09:35is another notorious resident. But the famed mafioso Giuseppe Fanara is one who the guards
09:39will know to steer clear of more than any. He has been serving a life sentence, and in 2020,
09:44when guards came in to inspect his cell, he decided to unleash his anger. He began attacking the guards
09:49and ended up biting one of their fingers. The bite was so strong that he managed to bite it right
09:53off.
09:54Rather than allowing the guards to put it on ice and sew it back on, he decided to swallow this
09:58guard's finger. He then took out a broomstick and threatened the other guards and shouted,
10:02I'll slit your throats like pigs. Number five, Sasari High Security. Like many countries in the
10:07Western world, Italy is also the home of many Islamic extremists, and Sasari High Security Jail is where
10:13many of Europe's biggest threats are sent. And because a lot of them are sent to the same place,
10:17this is a breeding ground for radicalization. In fact, a lot of these prisoners don't speak
10:21Italian and can only speak Arabic. Similarly, the prison guards only speak Italian and cannot speak
10:25Arabic. People who literally fought for ISIS in Syria are within these walls. One terrorist within
10:30these walls spent his time in Syria torturing and abusing people for refusing to fight for ISIS,
10:36and gave people electric shocks until they converted to Islam. Guards are quick to monitor behavior of
10:40these people. One of the strangest things they do is see how they respond to news of major terrorist
10:45attacks. There's a chance that they could be celebrating. Number four, Prison Terni. Prison
10:49Terni is another prison which has some horrific incidents, and in August 2022, there were days of
10:54blood and violence. One evening, at 11pm, a guard was undergoing one of his routine walks around the
10:59cell block, and in the corner of his eye, he saw blood. A Moroccan inmate was suddenly transported to
11:04hospital. It was revealed that the cuts were implemented using a simple shaving blade. The blade was
11:08torn through his skin, leaving behind a large loss of blood. He died later in the hospital that
11:13evening. Later that week, a guard on security duty was attacked for what has been described as futile
11:18reasoning. The inmate had overpowered the guard, and there were no other guards to help him. In fact,
11:22the only person who came to his aid was another inmate. Presumably, he will probably be able to
11:26shorten his sentence as a result. Fabrizio Bonino, national secretary for the police department in
11:31the region, said that Terni is a prison that is now out of control, with a serious shortage of staff.
11:36He also referred to the lack of weapons prison guards are allowed to carry, and the persistence of
11:40psychiatric patients in regular prisons. Number three, Frosinone Prison. Frosinone Prison is just
11:46outside of Rome, and many inmates have links to the Camorra. One evening, an inmate was given
11:50permission to use the shower, but once the guard opened the door, he realized that the prisoner had
11:53a gun pointing straight at his stomach. Faced with the proposition of being shot, the guard had to keep
11:58quiet. The prisoner then forced him to hand over the keys to other cells, but all did not go according
12:02to plan. At some of the cell doors, he struggled to open them. Perhaps the guard had tricked him and
12:06given
12:06him different keys, or perhaps he was just incredibly incompetent. So he realized the time was ticking,
12:11and shot the other inmates through the bars of the cell, but didn't manage to injure any of them.
12:15And then, other guards arrived with guns of their own, and he was forced to surrender. He handed over
12:19his gun, and it was revealed that he was also carrying a phone, so he handed over the phone as
12:23well. But before doing so, he swallowed the sim card. It's believed that the gun was smuggled into the
12:28prison via drone. The sim card swallowing prisoner is believed to be attached to a criminal clan.
12:33Number 2. Poggio Reale Prison. In Poggio Reale Prison in Naples, you do not under any circumstances
12:39want to be brought into room 0. In prison records, this prison cell will be marked down an isolation
12:44cell. But off the record, this place has been described as a torture chamber. It is alleged
12:48that this is a room where guards can viciously beat prisoners who have rubbed them the wrong way.
12:52There is no proof of this, because rather conveniently, there are no CCTV cameras in these cells. The walls
12:57have been found covered in blood, so you do the math. You could argue that the guards need an
13:01ambiguous room like this in order to keep its inmates in check. The most humiliating fact about
13:06this prison is that the mafioso Raffaele Cutolo managed to run his mob during his entire life
13:11sentence. In the late 1970s, he challenged the first boss of the Camorra, Antonio Spavone,
13:16to a duel out in the prison yard and told him to bring a flick knife with him. But Cutolo
13:20was so
13:20feared that Spavone chickened out on him. And this meant that Cutolo was highly respected across the
13:25entire prison. By 1980, he had 10,000 affiliates. He managed his cartel up until the age of 79,
13:31and died in his prison bed in 2021. Number one, Santa Maria Capua Vetere Prison. Riots also emerged
13:38at the beginning of the pandemic at Santa Maria Capua Vetere Prison. But the guards were quick to
13:42stop this protest, and footage emerged of just how brutal they had gotten with the inmates.
13:47The distressing footage shows prison guards using their truncheons unprovoked, punching them and
13:51even pulling their hair. There was also a walk of shame, where they had to walk by a line of
13:55guards
13:55while getting punched by almost every one of them. The prisoners had demanded face masks,
14:00but these were not given to them. As you can see in the video, having a face mask to stop
14:03the spread
14:04was a luxury only given to the prison guards. When we see physical abuse like this, we tend to
14:09only think of the physical pain inflicted upon them. However, the wounds from these were more
14:13than skin deep. One prisoner told Republika,
14:15in the video I am the hooded one, the one taking blows to the head, back and legs. Even though
14:20I'm
14:20out of the prison, I haven't slept for weeks. As we've seen throughout this video, these prisons can
14:24be a danger to mind, body and soul. Thank you so much for watching. Please click on the videos you
14:29see in front of you for more from unexplained.
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