Built in 1830, Port Arthur used to be a penal colony. In fact, it was the largest of its kind in Australia and has the strictest security measures, making it the place to detain the hardest convicts from Ireland and Britain. Thanks to the water that surrounds the area, it was naturally secure, although rumors of it being shark infested could have also helped a little.

Port Arthur is home to a series of different buildings and sites, including a Gothic church and some surviving prison buildings. As the prison was abandoned in 1877, what remains now is just a couple of very old structures and some relatively new ones when the area was transformed into a port.

Port Arthur is now a part of UNESCO?s World Heritage Register and the Australian Convict Sites list.