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Romania · Gherla

Gherla prison

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Verified 29 May 2026
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Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

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How to send mail, money, and visit Gherla prison

Step-by-step guidance using the Romania system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

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Photograph of Gherla prison

Gallery

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

  • A börtön bejárata, középen az igazgatósági épület. Fortepan 86642.jpg

    Photo by FOTO:Fortepan — ID 86642: Adományozó/Donor: Magyar Földrajzi Múzeum / Erdélyi Mór cége. archive copy at the Wayback Machine via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Gherla 05.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Torturi Gherla - Icoana Diaconesti 001.jpg

    Photo by Cuvântul Ortodox (www.cuvantul-ortodox.ro) via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Torturi Gherla - Icoana Diaconesti 002.jpg

    Photo by Cuvântul Ortodox (www.cuvantul-ortodox.ro) via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Background

Gherla Prison is a penitentiary located in the Romanian city of Gherla (Hungarian: Szamosújvár), in Cluj County. The prison dates from 1785; it is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during the Communist regime. In Romanian slang, one of the generic words for a prison is "gherlă", after the institution.

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

Capacity

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Current population

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Occupancy

—

Year opened

1785

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

National Administration of Penitentiaries (RO)

Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

1785

Region

Gherla

Security level

—

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.

Contact & address

Official site

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

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Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.

Data completeness

28%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources