My friend Steph and I have a thing for former prisons-turned-museums. This summer we added Kingston Penitentiary to our list.  Closed in 2013, the former maximum security prison is now open for guided tours.

Our tour was given by a former guard, and was super interesting. The discharge and release forms we had to sign first were pretty scary, but it felt like visiting a really creepy museum. The grounds have a strange university-campus feel to them, until you notice the barbed wire and bars.

If you want the interesting history, you’ll have the take the tour yourself. I feel like this is one of those keep the secrets kind of things.

Some of Canada’s most notorious inmates spent years here, mostly in Seg, so there’s definitely a creepy factor to this place.