Going for the hard cell

This attraction was billed soberly in my guidebook as 'a unique and fascinating interactive museum', so I'm ill-prepared for such shenanigans. The London Dungeon this isn't.

Karosta Garrison, in the picturesque Latvian coastal town of Liepaja, has been a naval prison since 1905. Used by both the Nazis and the Soviets in their time, it gained a fearsome notoriety as a jailhouse from which no one ever escaped - a harsher version of Colditz.

But since it re-opened as a museum a few years ago, it has become one of Latvia's most popular tourist attractions. School groups, stag parties, historians, students (and no doubt a few masochists) book months in advance for the 'opportunity' to spend a night behind bars as part of the prison's powerful performances.

Appetite for persecution
It all seemed rather civilised when I arrived - exchanging pleasantries with my fellow 'inmates' (students) in the course of a meagre but tasty supper in the Soviet-era prison cafeteria.

But this was merely the calm before the storm. After signing health disclaimers guaranteeing our fitness and sanity, showtime began in earnest with an hour of fierce parade-ground manoeuvres and crippling physical jerks.

And the night was still young.

Rough medical examinations followed - by a disciplinarian nurse and sleazy doctor in a filthy, antiquated medical centre. Hot on its heels came a lengthy interrogation by a fierce KGB officer in the prison governor's office, conducted under a dazzling spotlight and the scrutinising gaze of a plaster bust of Lenin.

Using their illusion
Although I never felt in genuine physical danger at any point, there's no denying the staff are pretty intimidating. Neither real military personnel nor actors, they manage to be totally convincing, never breaking from character or letting the illusion slip for a second. But then a serious point is being made by all this.

Latvia's lot in the 20th century was a traumatic one. Its independence, gained in 1991, after nearly a century of occupation and oppression, was hard won. The Karosta prison experience is a highly effective means of informing people about Latvia's tragic past and the cruelties suffered by its inhabitants in a way that is, quite literally, unforgettable.

When Latvia was a part of the Soviet Union, Karosta was a top-secret military town, out of bounds to anyone except its inhabitants; a Northern suburb of Liepaja completely cut off from the rest of the city by the sea and an imposing swing bridge.

Today, the area is a fantastically atmospheric wilderness of pine, birch and chestnut forests studded with extraordinary surprises: crumbling tower blocks; exploded forts, half-fallen into the sea; overgrown military cemeteries; decaying 19th-century buildings (including an extravagant palace built by Tsar Nicholas II); wild, abandoned beaches; an extensive labyrinth of underground tunnels and bunkers; an art gallery, studios and café, run by a group of contemporary artists; and a magnificent Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Other than the prison, however, Karosta offers few options for accommodation, so most visitors bed down in sleepy, beautiful Liepaja, on the other side of the bridge. Those of a nervous disposition, who still want to experience something of the prison experience, will be pleased to learn they can stay overnight without having to endure the grim theatricals.

But even if you are able to sleep on the cold, damp mattresses and block out the din of the recorded screams and gunshots, it is unlikely you will sleep very soundly.

Malevolent to the end, the guards are known for regaling guests with gruesome bedtime tales of disturbing visits from a tormented prison ghost. Certain to give you the heebies.

Seb travelled to Latvia with Baltic Holidays (Tel: 0870 757 9233, www.balticholidays.com). Weekend breaks to Liepaja, including the Karosta prison tour, two nights' accommodation in Liepaja and one in Riga, cost from £399 per person, with flights from London and Manchester.

Culture corner
Considered Latvia's most progressive city, Liepaja is the heart of the country's art, music and fashion industries. It plays host to a varied collection of galleries, cafés and bars, and its excellent clubs continue pulsating until well into the night. Throw in the city's beautiful Blue Flag beach and you have a Baltic version of the Balearics.

Bare essentials
Karosta is a northern suburb of Liepaja, Latvia's third largest city. It straddles a narrow strip of land between the Baltic Sea and two lakes.
Currency: £1=1.1 Latvian Lati
Language: Latvian