Museo del Carcere Le Nuove (New Prisons Museum), Turin

Museo del Carcere Le Nuove (New Prisons Museum) is located in the former prison of Turin, known as Le Nuove, built between 1854 and 1869, inaugurated in 1870 under the reign of Vittorio Emanuele II and remained in operation until it was replaced in 1986 by the more modern "Lorusso e Cutugno" prison located in the Vallette district.

The museum itinerary is divided within the various structures of the former prison.

Designed by the architect Giuseppe Polani, it was conceived, according to the criteria of the time, as a prison with individual segregation. It had 648 cells, thirteen wings, including those of those sentenced to death, as well as two chapels, one for men and one for women. The cells also had the characteristic of having "wolf's mouth" windows, which allowed only the sky to be seen. Its first director, Marinucci, allowed the internal church to be used for school lessons: the prisoners followed the lessons held by the volunteers of the Archconfraternity from cells designed for individual participation in religious functions.

During the Fascist period, opponents, partisans and Jews remained imprisoned there, such as Ignazio Vian andEmanuele Artom, deported and sentenced to death. Infamous was the German arm, run by the SS , where detainees were tortured. No changes were made to the structure until the fall of fascism ; subsequently, with the new constitutional rights, the prison was slowly made more livable, eliminating the internal walls of the courtyard and making important changes to the cells, including the enlargement of the windows and the provision of radiators and toilets.

Currently in the structure, in addition to the prison museum, there are also some judicial offices.