Alcatraz Citadel Alcatraz Citadel Alcatraz Citadel, also known as Fort Alcatraz, was the original military defense and prison on Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The citadel was built in 1859 as a U.S. Army military defense, and began function as a war camp in 1861 and long-term military prison in 1868. During the American Civil War, the citadel and its batteries provided an important line of defense. The island continued to develop in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1893, the first hospital on Alcatraz opened. A new upper prison was built in 1904, but after
Alcatraz Island "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4" as a playable level, and in the video game "" in a downloadable zombie survival map called "Mob of the Dead". It is also featured as a playable racetrack in the 1996 arcade racing video game "". Alcatraz has also been portrayed often as a safe haven or base of operations in many post-apocalyptic movies, such as "The Book of Eli". Alcatraz even appears in "The Alchemyst" and "The Sorceress" by author "Michael Scott" and is depicted as a prison for the immortal "Perenelle Flamel". Alcatraz is featured in the episode "Bird Mummy of Alcatraz"