Taganka Prison (Russian: Таганская тюрьма) was built in Moscow in 1804 by Alexander I, emperor of Russia.
[1] During the Great Purge, the prison housed foreign enemies of the state, such as the German communist, Gustav Sobottka, Jr., as well as Russians.
It played host to a mass protest in 1938 when thousands of prisoners repudiated their confessions made under torture.
[2] The prison became immortalized in poems and songs dating from before the October Revolution in 1918.
It takes its name from the prison and was popularized by Russian singers Vladimir Vysotsky and Mikhail Shufutinsky.