Every city in the world has a museum about shameful things, of things that are marginal, strange, morbid – and this is the case for Museum of Crime, in São Paulo.
I visited it for the first time at 18, approximately, the limit-age, since minors are not allowed in. I can’t recall why I went there, but I know I’ll never forget it! And the museum stayed mostly the same since then.
The name by which it goes is not its real name: it is the Civil Police Museum – and it was built to serve as training for students at the Police Academy, in the University of São Paulo – that’s why it is inside of USP’s campus.
There you’ll find interesting things like prisoner’s tattoos and escalate up to knowing details of historical crimes, such as the Red Light Bandit; automobile accidents from the beginning of the 20th century, wax statues replicating different wounds, such as gunshot or axe… it’s pretty weird!
It’s mostly empty, very few people know it. I go there once a year, more or less. They open and close at alternative times, so it’s nice to give them a call and get informed beforehand.
