Alcatraz Island, Alcatraz Audio Guide
Explore Alcatraz Island, Alcatraz with Stanza's GPS-triggered offline audio guide.
About the Tour
Alcatraz Island is a small island located in San Francisco Bay, California, famously known as a former federal prison. It is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and a major tourist attraction.
What you will hear
The Administration Building and Prison Entrance
As visitors walk up the hill, they encounter the formal entrance to the federal penitentiary. This area highlights the transition from a military fort to the 'Rock'.
The Main Cellhouse Exterior
Completed in 1912, this massive concrete structure was once among the largest reinforced concrete buildings in the entire world.
Broadway and the Main Cell Blocks
The heart of the prison experience, these corridors were the main thoroughfares for inmates. Broadway was the central hall where every prisoner was visible to the guards.
The Standard Cell
In these cramped five-by-nine-foot spaces, inmates spent the majority of their time with only the barest essentials provided.
D-Block and Solitary Confinement
Known as the treatment unit, D-Block housed the most difficult prisoners and contained the dreaded 'holes' for solitary confinement.
Solitary Confinement Doors
When these heavy steel outer doors swung shut, the inmate inside was plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness.
The Mess Hall and Kitchen
The dining hall was the most dangerous place in the prison due to the concentration of inmates. Guards monitored from elevated galleries with tear gas canisters overhead.
The Mess Hall
Despite being the place for meals, the dining hall was widely considered the most dangerous room in the entire prison.
The Recreation Yard
The yard offered inmates their only outdoor time and a tantalizing view of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Recreation Yard
This walled outdoor space was the site of the violent 1946 Battle of Alcatraz, a forty-eight-hour struggle for control.
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