Cárcel de Broto, Medieval tower and prison in Broto, Spain.
Cárcel de Broto is a stone tower with three floors standing near the Ara River, featuring thick walls and a gabled roof covered in slate shingles typical of the valley. The structure was originally a defensive tower and later converted into a prison facility to hold detainees from the surrounding territories.
The structure began as a defensive tower in the 16th century, controlling a medieval bridge and collecting passage tolls, before being converted into a detention facility. It operated as a prison through the 20th century, serving inhabitants from both the Broto and Barèges valleys.
The prison walls contain numerous engravings left by prisoners over centuries, showing religious figures, everyday scenes, and personal inscriptions. These marks tell silent stories of people confined here who carved their thoughts and prayers into the stone.
The tower's interior clearly shows different conditions across levels, with upper cells receiving natural light through narrow openings while lower areas remain damp and dark. This layout reveals the stark contrast in living conditions that prisoners experienced depending on which section housed them.
The tower was not originally built as a prison but as a defensive post guarding a medieval bridge and controlling travelers crossing it. This earlier function as a toll collection point reveals how the building was later repurposed into an entirely different facility.
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