The “CÁRCEL MODELO” building, located in the L’Olivereta area, was designed in 1877. by the architect Joaquín María Belda. The prototype of the building was the American prison system of 1820. From the central block-Panóptico (Panopticon), from the Greek “to see” and “all”, four rays emanated, viewed entirely from it.
In total, there were 528 solitary confinement cells in the prison, 16 paid and 10 for politicians, and there was also a compartment for young people. The system is designed to isolate individual prisoners to encourage them to reflect on their actions.
In 1991, when the new prison in Picassent was put into operation, prisoners from CÁRCEL MODELO and nearby Cárcel de Mujeres were transferred there 🎥 Soon after the prison was closed in 1993, Luis García Berlanga used CÁRCEL MODELO as the backdrop for his film Todos a la Cárcel. As a result, the prison, which served 90 years, turned into a ghost building for almost 15 years.
In 2008. work began on reconstruction, which by 2010 turned. a prison in an office complex, which now employs about 2,200 people. Today, on the site of the old prison on an area of about 110,000 m², the administrative complex “El Complejo Administrativo del 9 de Octubre” is located, which houses the various ministries, central and territorial services of Generalitat Valenciana.
