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Romania

Doftana prison

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Photograph of Doftana prison

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • Anexa.jpg

    Photo by Daria Virbanescu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Doftana's inner courtyard.png

    Photo by Dahn via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Doftana- interior..jpg

    Photo by daria raducanu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 ro)

  • Doftana- interior.jpg

    Photo by Daria Raducanu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 ro)

  • Hol interior.jpg

    Photo by Daria Virbanescu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Inchisoarea Doftana.jpg

    Photo by daria Raducanu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 ro)

  • Penitenciarul Doftana 01.JPG

    Photo by Constantin Onu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 ro)

  • Penitenciarul Doftana 02.JPG

    Photo by Constantin Onu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 ro)

Background

Doftana was a Romanian prison, sometimes referred to as "the Romanian Bastille". Now a ruin, it was built in 1895 in connection with nearby salt mines. Beginning in 1921 it was used to detain political prisoners, among them Max Goldstein, a revolutionary whose detonation of an explosive device in the Romanian Senate chamber in December 1920 prompted widespread suppression and detention of political radicals, including Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was later the Prime Minister of Romania (1952–1955), and the Chairman of the State Council of Romania (1961–1965), and Nicolae Ceaușescu, who went on to be General Secretary of Romanian Communist Party (1965–1989), and the first President of Romania (1974–1989). The prison ruins are situated close to the village of Doftana, in the Telega commune of Prahova County.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

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Current population

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Occupancy

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Year opened

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Operational

Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Operator

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Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

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Region

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Security level

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Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Notable inmates

  • Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
    Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
    1899–1938 · politician
  • Alexandru Moghioroș
    Alexandru Moghioroș
    1911–1969 · politician

    Alexandru Moghioroș (Hungarian: Mogyorós Sándor; 23 October 1911 – 1 October 1969) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. Moghioroș was born in 1911 into an ethnic Hungarian family, in Nagyszalonta, Austria-Hungary, now Salonta, Bihor County, Romania.

  • Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
    Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
    1901–1965 · politician

    Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (8 November [O.S.

  • Ștefan Foriș
    Ștefan Foriș
    1892–1946 · journalist

    Ștefan Foriș (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈʃteˈfan ˈforiʃ]; born István Fóris, also known as Marius; 9 May 1892 – summer 1946) was a Hungarian and Romanian communist journalist who served as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR or PCdR) between December 1940 and April 1944.

  • Max Goldstein
    Max Goldstein
    1898–1924 · politician

    Max Goldstein (1898–1924), also known as Coca, was a Romanian revolutionary, variously described as a communist and an anarchist, who carried out the first terrorist attacks in Romania.

  • Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor
    Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor
    1881–1964 · journalist

    Mihail Gheorghiu Bujor (November 8, 1881 – June 17, 1964) was a Romanian lawyer, journalist and socialist militant.

  • Emil Bodnăraș
    Emil Bodnăraș
    1904–1976 · politician

    Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic. .

  • Gheorghe Apostol
    Gheorghe Apostol
    1913–2010 · politician

    Gheorghe Apostol (16 May 1913 – 21 August 2010) was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party (PCR), noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceaușescu.

  • Richard Wurmbrand
    Richard Wurmbrand
    1909–2001 · preacher

    Richard Wurmbrand (24 March 1909 – 17 February 2001), also known as Nicolai Ionescu, was a Romanian Evangelical Lutheran priest, and professor of Jewish descent.

Showing 9 of 12. Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.

Contact & address

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Conditions Risk Score

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Data completeness

16%

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Sources

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA
World Prisons. (2026). Doftana prison. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/doftana-prison
Chicago
"Doftana prison." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/doftana-prison.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-doftana-prison,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Doftana prison},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/doftana-prison},
  urldate = {2026-10-20}
}