Explore 71 Execution Collections - Atlas Obscura
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Valladolid, Spain

Campo Grande Park

This tranquil urban park has a violent history.
Hermosillo, Mexico

Old Penitentiary of Sonora

The site of Mexico’s last civilian execution is now a museum dedicated to regional history.
Houston, Texas

Old ‘Hanging’ Oak

A 400-year-old live oak tree with a fictitiously morbid past.
Münster, Germany

Zwinger

A 16th-century fortress that was a Nazi-era prison and execution site, now a silent memorial.
Dalkeith, Scotland

Dalkeith Tolbooth

This building has been a courtroom, a prison, and the location of the last public hanging in Dalkeith.
Cervera, Spain

Gallows Hill

A former execution site with ornate rock carvings of mysterious origin.
Münster, Germany

Anabaptist Cages

Cages that once displayed the bodies of executed leaders hang from a German church tower.
Fujisawa, Japan

Tatsunokuchi Execution Grounds

A major Japanese execution ground site from the Middle Ages.
Geneva, Switzerland

Guillotine of Geneva

During the French annexation, 36 prisoners were executed using this device.
Poznań, Poland

Medieval Execution Pole

This 16th-century pole was once used in brutal public executions.
Saint Andrews, Scotland

George Wishart Memorial Stones

The initials "GW" mark where one of Scotland's most important Protestant martyrs was burned at the stake.
The man known as Monsieur de New York sort of kept his identity secret, as executioner was not exactly a position of renown.
crime

The Mystery of Monsieur de New York, Celebrity Hangman

Considered an artist of the gallows, his true identity is shrouded in myth and hyperbole. 
Nina Strochlic February 28, 2024
Stretching between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Scottish witch trials were among Europe’s longest and most deadly.
witchcraft

Isobel Gowdie and the Untold History of the Scottish Witch Trials

Some experts estimate as many as 3,000 people were accused and executed for witchcraft in Scotland.
Sarah Durn October 31, 2023
George Jacobs, whose witchcraft trial is shown here in Thomkins H. Matteson's 1855 painting, was one of 19 people hanged as a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.
murder

The Salem Witch Trials Actually Happened in Danvers, Massachusetts

Tensions between Salem and Danvers were there from the start—contributing to the ensuing witch hysteria.
Theresa McKinney October 26, 2023
Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania

Molly McGuire Memorial

A monument to an Irish secret society thought to be responsible for a string of violent attacks in Pennsylvania coal mines.
Stockholm, Sweden

Galgbacken (Gallow Hill)

The site of Stockholm's last public execution.
London, England

Tower Hill Execution Site

A memorial for public executions that dates back to the 14th century.
Guy Fawkes is the most notorious member of England’s 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a Catholic conspiracy to blow up Westminster Palace and assassinate Protestant King James I.
murder

How a Threadbare 'Bag of Secrets' Led to Guy Fawkes's Gruesome Execution

The documents that convicted the infamous traitor were all kept in this unassuming leather pouch.
Kavitha Rao May 19, 2023