The Museum of Torture and Medieval Criminology in San Marino is dedicated to the topic of techniques and methods that throughout history have been implemented by humans to exert control and power over one another.
The collection on display brings together more than 100 tools and devices dating back to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries or reconstructions from the 1800s and 1900s that were invented to procure physical pain, indescribable suffering and even death to the people who ended up their victims.
Inquisitorial chair, knee splitter, guillotine, stretching bench, slacker’s necklace, scourge – these are some of the evocative names of the medieval torture instruments that you will be able to observe up close in this museum.
The purpose of this exhibition, which is sure to have a strong impact on visitors, is to make the public aware of the existence of these torture practices in the past but also still in the present day.
The museum focuses on the criminal practices of the medieval period, but it also succeeds in igniting awareness about other types of torture and the different forms of intolerance and violence that still exist in our times such as anti-Semitism, racism, and war, and it also organizes cultural awareness-raising initiatives on these issues.
The museum is also worth a visit because, compared to similar collections, the one in San Marino holds less known and rare tools: the Flaying Cat, the Spanish Spiders, the Heretic’s Fork.
Museum of Torture
Contrada San Francesco, 2 – City of San Marino
Phone. +378 0549.991215
www.thetorturemuseum.it
Opening hours
Summer: from Monday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Winter: in November and January open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., in December open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets
full price 8,00€
reduced 6,00€
groups 4,00€
