The Bulgarian "Alcatraz"
The church monastery lasted until 1923 when the monastery was turned into a prison. 132 communists and farmers were exiled there. The difficult maintenance of the island prison forced the government to transfer the prisoners to the Burgas police station, and some of them were released.
After the attack on Sofia's Sveta Nedelya Church in April 1925, the island was turned into prison again. one of the wings of the monastery was later turned into a museum.