Be careful of your actions, because you could well end up behind bars… in the smallest prison in the world! No need to go to the other side of the globe to discover it.
A prison with only two cells and which, surprisingly, still functions today! At first glance, one might believe it to be a simple tourist curiosity. But no, it is indeed a real place of detention. However tiny it may be, this prison alone embodies all the symbolism of deprivation of liberty. An act always full of meaning, whatever its form or duration, and which it is illusory to consider as a “holiday club” contrary to what some say…
Lost in the middle of a postcard landscape, this tiny prison seems straight out of a nightmare. Its austere walls contrast with the peaceful beauty of the island that shelters it, like a dark stain on an idyllic setting. You might think it’s a horror film setting, a place abandoned for decades… And yet, no. This prison, the smallest in the world, is still in operation. Today, it still accommodates detainees for very short periods, rarely more than 48 hours.
It is on the small Anglo-Norman island of Sark, in the English Channel, that the smallest prison in the world stands. A simple stone building built in 1856, with two wooden beds and a sturdy door. The tiny prison does not see many inmates. Most of the time, they are tourists who are a little too tipsy or locals who have overindulged in “adult drinks”. Nothing serious, then. On the other hand, when the facts are more serious, the accused are transferred to the neighboring island of Guernsey, where they can be tried fairly and serve their sentence.
Accessible only by boat, the island of Sark has only around 600 inhabitants and lives to the quiet rhythm of the sea and the wind. Here, no cars, no asphalt or horns and not even street lights! We travel on foot, by bike, on horseback or by carriage. Even emergency vehicles are pulled by tractors or horses. A timeless, almost unreal atmosphere…
