Fängelse regina coeli

Traces of black soot still mark the facade of the Regina Coeli jail, a reminder of the latest riots in Rome's infamous lock-up -- now emblematic of long-standing troubles plaguing Italy's prison system.

A steady stream of women, some with eyes swollen from crying, pass through the visitor's entrance of the crumbling edifice, where on any one day more than 1, men are crammed into a facility designed for just

A short walk from tourist-thronged bars and restaurants in the leafy Trastevere district, Veronica Giuffrida, 31, sits on a steel bench holding her toddler, awaiting the weekly visit with her incarcerated father, the child's grandad.

"They lack everything. The hot water doesn't work. The electricity doesn't work. They're just abandoned," she told AFP.

"It's a jungle inside," she said.

A guard emerges from inside for a quick break. While not authorised to talk, he confirms: "No-one who's not inside could ever understand. It's indescribable."

Festering, worsening

Regina Coeli is a teeming microcosm of the major problems plaguing Italy's prison system today -- severe, systemic overcrowding and rising suicide r

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