The first location was the old 17th-century prison of the Carceri Nuove on via Giulia, built by Pope Innocent X and representing the flagship of the penal policy of the Papal State.
The Criminological Museum of Rome was divided into several sections: crime section (with artifacts related to various types of crimes, from forgery to murder) – state activities against criminals (showcasing investigative techniques) – execution of sentences and security measures (objects from prisons poetically called “prison malices,” meaning tricks invented by inmates to hide weapons, escape, or commit self-harm) and finally a historical section containing edicts and proclamations, torture instruments, and execution devices.
In 1968, the Criminal Museum was dismantled to repurpose the Carceri Nuove premises, and since 1975 it has been housed in the Palazzo del Gonfalone, a building dating back to 1827, built by Pope Leo XII to serve as a correctional home for juvenile minors coming from the Clementine prison located at the Apostolic Hospice of San Michele.
The Criminological Museum represents a valuable historical testimony on past punitive systems and serves as an educational tool for schools and training institutes.
