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Gherla prison
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Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by FOTO:Fortepan â ID 86642: Adományozó/Donor: Magyar Földrajzi Múzeum / Erdélyi Mór cége. archive copy at the Wayback Machine via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Cuvântul Ortodox (www.cuvantul-ortodox.ro) via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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 "gherlÄ", after the institution.
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
1785
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1785
Region
Gherla
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
- Kostas Passaris1975 · criminal
- Andrei Ciurunga1920–2004 · poet
Ovidiu Papadima1909–1996 · literary criticOvidiu Papadima (June 23, 1909, Sinoe, ConstanÈa County â May 26, 1996, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary critic, folklorist, and essayist. He studied at the Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School in Târgu MureÈ, graduating at the top of his class in 1928.
Nicolae Steinhardt1912–1989 · linguistNicolae Steinhardt (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoËla.e ËÊtajnhart]; born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 29, 1912 â March 30, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox monk and lawyer.
Gheorghe Jijie1919–2012 · writer
Richard Wurmbrand1909–2001 · preacherRichard Wurmbrand (24 March 1909 â 17 February 2001), also known as Nicolai Ionescu, was a Romanian Evangelical Lutheran priest, and professor of Jewish descent.
- Ion Cârja1922–1977 · writer
Ion Cârja (sometimes spelled CârjÄ or Cârje) (March 25, 1922 â May 8, 1977) was a Romanian and American writer and anti-communist activist, who was a political prisoner in Communist Romania.
Dimitrie Iov1888–1959 · writer
Alexandru Ivasiuc1933–1977 · writerAlexandru "SaÈa" Ivasiuc (Romanian pronunciation: [alekËsandru (ËsaÊa) ivaËsjuk]; July 12, 1933 â March 4, 1977) was a Romanian novelist.
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
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Insufficient data
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Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
Data completeness
28%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Contributors
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q16981962)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
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). Gherla prison. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/gherla-prison
Chicago
"Gherla prison." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/gherla-prison.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-gherla-prison,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Gherla prison},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/gherla-prison},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}