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Trip ideas  /  4 days in Hong Kong  /  Tai Kwun
Tai Kwun, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Historic site · Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Tai Kwun

Built from 1841 to 1925.Decommissioned in 2006.Reopened on 29 May 2018.

Photo: Wpcpey, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Three monuments

The compound holds three declared monuments built from 1841 to 1925

Tai Kwun, the Former Central Police Station Compound, includes three declared monuments in Central: the former Central Police Station, the Former Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison. Its 16 historic buildings were built between 1841 and 1925.

16historic buildings, built between 1841 and 1925

The prison

The first building was a magistrate's house with jail blocks in 1841

The first building in the compound is the Magistrate's House, with jail blocks, built in 1841. In 1899 the former Central Prison was renamed Victoria Prison. By 1862 the number of prisoners had increased to 650. Victoria Prison was decommissioned in 2006.

Saved

Most colonial buildings had been bulldozed before this site was saved

Most of the city's historic colonial architecture had been bulldozed for development before the handover to China in 1997. In 2008 the government partnered with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to conserve the complex, and work began in 2011. A wall and roof collapsed in 2016.

Reopened

It reopened as a centre for heritage and arts on 29 May 2018

The work took eight years. Sixteen heritage buildings were restored, and two new buildings were added, with designs inspired by the site's historic brickwork. The compound opened in phases from 29 May 2018 with the exhibition 100 Faces of Tai Kwun.

Day 1, afternoon

It comes after Hollywood Road. Then Victoria Peak.

More stories from this trip idea

The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Tai Kwun, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.

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