Sinop Fortress Prison The Sinop Fortress Prison, or Sinop Kale Cezaevi in Turkish, was a high-security state prison located within the inner fortress of the centuries-old fortification on the northeastern part of Cape Sinop. Established in 1887, the prison was closed down in 1997 and its inmates were transferred to a more modern facility that had been recently constructed in Sinop. Built in a U-shape, the prison was a masonry building with 28 halls on two floors, situated inside the southern inner fortress. In 1939, an extension building with 9 halls on two floors was added to the main building for use as a juvenile prison, increasing the land coverage to 10247 square meters. Due to its location within a fortress, the Sinop Fortress Prison was considered to be one of the most secure prisons in Turkey, with no possibility of escape. In fact, it was so close to the sea that even lighting a match was challenging for the inmates. The prison has been featured in numerous stories and poems by notable writers, and has been the setting for many movies and TV shows. Sabahattin Ali's poem Aldırma Gönül, written in 1933 while he was imprisoned at Sinop Fortress, was later popularized in a song by Edip Akbayram. The Turkish movie Pardon (2004) and the TV mini series Firar (Prison Break) (1993) and Köpek (The Dog) (2005) were also filmed at the prison. After the prison was closed, its facilities were handed over to the Culture and Tourism Ministry in 1999. Today, the Sinop Fortress Prison is a popular tourist attraction, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Its inclusion in cultural productions and the public's growing interest in recent crimes have increased its popularity as a historical site.