The museum was once Jiangsu Provincial Surveillance Commissioner’s Prison and Suzhou Prefecture Prison. This was a prison established in the late Qing Dynasty, where all death row inmates and other major criminals were held. According to records, there are two rows of a total of nine prisons here, with each prison holding 20 inmates, which is extremely crowded. After the Xinhai Revolution, the Surveillance Commissioner’s Prison was abolished. In 1919, a detention center was set up here to hold inmates who had not been sentenced. Within a few years, this small detention center became famous all over the world. The cruciform building with a maze-like design, the detention center on Sijian Street has a long history dating back to the late Qing Dynasty. After liberation, this place was the location of the detention center for a long time. Later, it was listed as a cultural relic protection building. Although it has been renovated into a museum, it basically retains its original appearance. The entire building is in a cruciform shape. The prisons are arranged in a line along the long corridor. The upper floor is the room for guards. From the grid on the floor of the guard’s room, each room can be monitored. Considering lighting and safety, it is almost impeccable.
Opening hours: Open from 09:30 to 16:00 from Monday to Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday throughout the year; closed all day on Wednesday throughout the year. The specific business status is subject to the opening situation on that day.
Suzhou Police Museum
The museum was once Jiangsu Provincial Surveillance Commissioner’s Prison and Suzhou Prefectur[...]
