Bijlmerbajes 3.51

The Bijlmerbajes was a prison complex (which was permanently closed in June 2016) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, near the Amsterdam Amstel railway station. The official name is Penitentiaire Inrichting Over-Amstel, although it is also known as Penitentiaire Inrichting De Stadspoort or Penitentiaire Inrichtingen Amsterdam. Bijlmerbajes is part of the Custodial Institutions Agency (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen, DJI) of the Dutch Ministry of Justice within the Dutch criminal justice system.The building was designed as a humane prison without bars over the windows and was opened in 1978. However it turned out that the glass of the windows was not completely unbreakable, so bars were retroactively fitted, known as lamellen. The complex consists of 6 towers with small divisions. The towers are connected by a tunnel through the prison, known as the 'Kalverstraat'. The main entrance to the prison is 150m from the Spaklerweg metro station.The alliterative name Bijlmerbajes was presumably acquired because the tower complex was constructed at the same time as highrise construction in the neighbouring Bijlmermeer, with bajes a Dutch slang term for "prison".TowersThe six towers each operate as a separate prison, each with a different type of prisoners and/or function. The towers are connected via the 260 meter long central corridor Kalverstraat. Besides the six towers there are also six outside areas (one for each tower), three gymnasiums or sport-centres, a small religious building functioning as church and mosque. A central front building houses some central functions such as the kitchen, visitor reception rooms, the entry processing department and the offices.