The prison is located in South Africa, on Robben Island, opposite Cape Town. Once upon a time, seals used to swim in these waters, but later the island was settled and for 400 years it served as a penal colony, leper colony for the mentally ill, and a maximum security prison for political prisoners. It was here that the hero of the African liberation movement, Nelson Mandela, was held in chains, which gave Robben Island its grim reputation in the world community.
In addition to its prison past, the island is also known for its perilousness for sailors. The ocean waves constantly crash against its shores, and any ship that runs aground near the island is immediately smashed by the waves. Therefore, Robben and the neighboring islands are not just seal islands: they can be confidently called the Islands of Sunken Ships.
The prison is famous for the fact that South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, as well as Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Robert Sobukwe, and other fighters for rights and freedoms, spent 27 years there.
The last political prisoner left the island in 1991, but Robben Island remained a prison for another five years. The prison had been a place of isolation since the seventeenth century: political prisoners were brought here from Dutch colonies, the prison was used as a leper colony, and a psychiatric hospital. The last political prisoner left the prison walls in 1991, and the prison functioned until 1996. Nowadays, it houses a museum.
The museum is a popular tourist attraction, as is the island itself. Former prisoners who once sat within its walls and former prison guards serve as guides in the museum. The museum displays the cells where prisoners used to be held, including Nelson Mandela's cramped single cell, where there wasn't even a bed. The future president of South Africa had to sleep on the floor.
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Written by Jermaine
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