Butyrka has a rich history. The first mention of Butyrka as a detention center dates to the 17th century. Then in 1879, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the prison was built on the site the detention center. It was designed by architect Mikhail Kazakov. One of the prison’s towers is called “Pugachev” tower; Yemelyan Pugachev, pretender to the Russian throne and leader of a Cossack insurrection in 1773-1774, was held there. The prison’s well known inmates included revolutionaries Nikolai Schmidt, Nikolai Bauman, political prisoners Kliment Voroshilov, an eventual military commander, and Felix Dzerzhinsky who later founded the KGB. Butyrka remains Moscow’s largest remand prison.
RIA Novosti reporters tour Butyrka Remand Prison No. 2, one of Russia’s most famous prisons.
Touring Russia’s legendary Butyrka prison
15:00 GMT 14.03.2011 (Updated: 19:53 GMT 19.10.2022)
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Butyrka has a rich history. The first mention of Butyrka as a detention center dates to the 17th century. Then in 1879, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the prison was built on the site the detention center. It was designed by architect Mikhail Kazakov. One of the prison’s towers is called “Pugachev” tower; Yemelyan Pugachev, pretender to the Russian throne and leader of a Cossack insurrection in 1773-1774, was held there.
