Sukhanovka Special Prison

Sukhanovka, officially Special Object No. 110, was a secret NKVD special-regime prison established in 1938 on the grounds of the former St Catherine's Hermitage (Ekaterininskaya Pustyn) near Vidnoye, south of Moscow. Reserved for high-profile political prisoners, it was notorious for interrogation and torture; Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn described it as the most terrible prison of the security organs. Cells were fashioned within the old monastic buildings, and the site operated under extreme secrecy. It ceased functioning as this prison in the 1950s and later served other institutional uses before being returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992.

Given this history of cruelty and death, the site has acquired a heavy, oppressive reputation, and some accounts speak of a haunted atmosphere. Any such stories are anecdotal and, more importantly, must never be allowed to trivialise the real and documented suffering endured here. The site's significance rests on memory, not sensation.

Today the grounds form the active Svyato-Ekaterininsky Monastery, where a modest museum preserves the memory of the prison. It stands as both a place of prayer and a site of remembrance for the victims of Stalinist repression, deserving of quiet respect.

The former prison grounds are now an active monastery near Vidnoye in Moscow Oblast, partly open to visitors, with a small museum documenting the Sukhanovka period. Because it is a working religious community, many areas are private and normal monastic rules of conduct apply.

Visitors should dress and behave respectfully, follow the monastery's guidance on where they may go, and approach the exhibits with sensitivity to the grievous history they record. The setting is best treated as a place of memory and reflection rather than a conventional tourist attraction.