The entrance of the Lisbon Penitentiary, now Lisbon Prison, on Rua Marquês de Fronteira, in 2016.Chester, CC BY 2.0
Campolide
Lisbon Penitentiary
A prison for common crimes that the political police used for political prisoners, above all in prolonged isolation. The sailors of the 1936 revolt left from here for Tarrafal, and the communist leader Militão Ribeiro died here, on hunger strike, in 1950.
The Lisbon Penitentiary, in Campolide, was a prison for common crimes, but the political police also used it for political prisoners.3 Memória Comum points to “some cells of the Penitentiary”, alongside the “curros” (isolation cells) of the Aljube, as the prime example of the long periods of isolation that went hand in hand with torture, to cut prisoners off from the world and diminish them.1 Seen from above, the six-winged building looks like a star; it is the setting of the novel A Estrela de Seis Pontas (The Six-Pointed Star), which Álvaro Cunhal published under the pseudonym Manuel Tiago.9
After the sailors’ revolt of 8 September 1936, the prisoners were taken through the police post at the “Mitra” and, on 18 September, admitted to the Penitentiary; on 17 October they embarked for the newly created Tarrafal concentration camp.76 The Penitentiary was one of the prisons from which prisoners were sent to Tarrafal.8
Those who died here include Américo Gomes, an activist in the Communist Youth, on 16 March 1934, aged 22, after 14 months in captivity; the bargeman Aurélio Dias, an activist of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), on 30 October 1934, after being “violently tortured” — three days later, the Special Military Court reduced his sentence to two years in prison, “deemed served by the time already spent”; and Senen Vasquez Albela, arrested with his brothers after the Spanish Civil War and handed over here in 1941, who died in 1956, aged 38.4 The anarchist Emídio Santana, arrested after the 1937 attack on Salazar, also passed through the Penitentiary.12
The communist leader Militão Ribeiro was arrested on 25 March 1949 in a clandestine house in Luso, together with Álvaro Cunhal and Sofia Ferreira.11 On 10 May he was transferred to the Penitentiary. Ill, he remained here, until his death, in strict isolation, without medical care worthy of the name; in letters written two months before he died, he accused the PIDE of “poisoning”. He went on hunger strike in protest against the prison regime and died in prison on 2 January 1950, aged 53.54
The building is now Lisbon Prison, classified as a monument of public interest; Wikipedia gave its closure as planned for 2026.9
O dia da inauguração: a Direção-Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais dá só o ano em que entraram os primeiros presos, 1885, e o subdiretor da Penitenciária, em 1888, o mês (setembro de 1885); o dia 2 de setembro aparece em resumos do SIPA (monumentos.gov.pt), cuja página não abriu.
Do you know more, or do you have a document? Tell us.
Sources16
1A tortura como sistema. Memória Comum – Memorial aos Presos e Perseguidos Políticos — consulted on 2 October 2026
12Emídio Santana. Memória Comum – Memorial aos Presos e Perseguidos Políticos — consulted on 3 October 2026
13Estabelecimento Prisional de Lisboa. Direção-Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais — consulted on 4 October 2026A Cadeia Penitenciária de Lisboa começou a construir-se em 1873 e recebeu os primeiros presos em 1885.
14António d'Azevedo Castello Branco, Estudos penitenciarios e criminaes. Typographia Casa Portugueza (Lisboa), em cópia digital da NOVA School of Law — consulted on 4 October 2026O autor, subdiretor da Penitenciária Central de Lisboa, reproduz um discurso parlamentar de 13 de março de 1888 em que lembra que o sistema penitenciário vigora no país «desde setembro [de] 1885».
15Prisão de Lisboa encerra até 2028, garante ministra da Justiça. Observador, 2026 — consulted on 4 October 2026A 31 de março de 2026, a ministra da Justiça, Rita Alarcão Júdice, anunciou o fecho gradual do Estabelecimento Prisional de Lisboa até 2028 (a ala A em 2026, a ala E em 2027); tinha então 1017 reclusos.
16Homenagem a Militão Ribeiro. Partido Comunista Português — consulted on 4 October 2026Militão Ribeiro morreu a 2 de janeiro de 1950 na Penitenciária de Lisboa, onde estava havia sete meses, vindo da cadeia da PIDE do Porto; «nove meses de prisão» no total; o texto diz que «tinha nascido há 54 anos».
Coordinates: OpenStreetMap (Nominatim), consultado a 2 de outubro de 2026.
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}