Hanoi Hilton Prison was built in 1886 for political prisoners who fought for the country's independence during the French colonial rule in Vietnam, and at that time it was called Maison Centrale. During the period of independence, the prison was named Hoa Lo, which means "fiery furnace". It received the sarcastic name Hanoi Hilton thanks to the American prisoners of war held here during the Vietnam War. In 1996, most of the prison was dismantled, and since 1998 an unusual museum has been operating in the surviving wing. Most of the museum exhibition is dedicated to the French colonial period, showing solitary confinement, instruments of torture, shackles and a guillotine. Another part of the museum is devoted to the Vietnam War - there are an interrogation room and prison cells, which contained mainly captured American pilots.