Brno Underground – Experience & Expectations
The underbelly of a city can reveal a lot about its history. Brno is one of the cities where you actually have access to this part of the city. From cellars and storage rooms under the market, to water tanks and atomic bomb shelters, the Brno Underground offers a unique variety of places to visit and experience it’s lived history.
The Brno Underground Experience
- Labyrinth under the vegetable market
- Inside Brnos water tanks under Žlutý Kopec
- Anti-aircraft / atomic bomb shelter below Brno Castle
- Brno Underground – Experience
- Where to get the tickets?
All locations mentioned below are closed on Mondays!
Labyrinth under the vegetable market
Underneath the vegetable market in Brno (and most of the inner city, actually) many cellars and passageways create a veritable labyrinth. From the surface several flights of stairs descend six to eight meters underground and lead into this slice of lived history. From food and beer/wine cellars to alchemist laboratories and even cells, the underground space in Brno hosted many things during it’s existence.
When you take a tour of the space, either with an audio guide or with a guide, you learn about these underground spaces, how and why they came to be, how they were used and how dangerous they were and still are to this date. Some of the old cellars were transformed into museum rooms, exhibiting archeological findings from long before even these places existed. Other exhibited items include instruments for punishment of dishonest craftsmen and merchants, which were used in the 17th century in the marketplace above, such as a pillory, whips and torture equipment as well as a “cage of fools” (see the gallery below).
Inside Brnos water tanks under Žlutý Kopec
Water is one of the necessities of human life. For the longest time of human existence having water readily available was one of the major struggles of society. And the more people congregated in a place, the less water was there to go around.
In 1874 Brnos water problem was solved with engineering, as the construction of the first water tank was finished. This colossal structure was built deep underground from bricks, without steel, wood or concrete. And yet it has held up over the centuries and is still safe to walk in today. As soon as 1894 a second water tank was needed. This one was built from the same materials, but with a slightly different layout and in a bigger size.
The third and largest water tank is also the newest one. On contrast to the other two this one was built from concrete and finished in 1917. Even more so than the other two it’s many columns and domed ceiling give strong impressions of being inside a cathedral. Inside this area of the tanks there are also changing art installations. When I was there it was a sound and light show, which happened once an hour.
All three water tanks are located in the same area, underneath what today is a park (with benches that invite you to soak in the sun after spending so much time underground) on the elevated area of Žlutý kopec east of the inner city of Brno.
You can visit the Žlutý kopec water tanks individually, with an audio guide or as part of guided tours. However I would recommend going by yourself, since you will never be able to experience the eerie silence inside these giant structures when there are 20 other people around you.
Kryt 10-Z – Anti-aircraft / atomic bomb shelter below Brno Castle
The 10-Z Bunker is a former nuclear shelter, which was dug into the rock of the mountain under Špilberk Castle during WWII. It was finished in 1959 for the purpose of protecting up to 500 people in 65 room on an area of 1,500 m² in case of a nuclear attack. It had the facilities to operate independently with it’s own water tank, air filter room, diesel unit and even telephone exchange. It also had a kitchen, which still serves food, coffee and beer today (on certain occasions).
Inside the bunker you can visit some of the original rooms, try on clothes from back then to take pictures and explore the maze of tunnels by yourself.
The bunker was opened to the public in 2016 as an interactive museum and a reminder of the not-so-distant past of constant unrest in Europe.
Brno Underground – Experience & Expectations
I didn’t really know what to expect when I visited the locations of the Brno underground (mainly because I didn’t know they existed before I got to Brno). The first place I visited out of these location was the Labyrinth under the Vegetable Market, since it is the easiest to reach, being located literally in the middle of the city. The reception staff explained the optional audioguide and the different ticket options well and the tour was small (8 people) and enjoyable, with a humorous and knowledgable guide.
Second location were the water tanks, which took my breath away. There is something about seeing structures like these up close. A feat of engineering and human ingenuity at the time of their construction, which changed the life of people all around them.
The following day I visited the nuclear shelter and it’s history is so close to out current date that it serves as a grim reminder of war and unrest in Europe and a warning that we are never really far from it.
All in all I recommend all three to visitors of Brno and if you have the opportunity you should visit the other places of the Brno underground, too.
Brno Underground – Where to get the tickets?
You can buy tickets in advance on the official website of the Brno Underrgound! Or on premise for most of the attractions. There are combination tickets available where buying several admission tickets is less expensive than one ticket at a time.
Some places, like the Denis Atomic Bomb Shelter under Petrov Hill are only open on Saturdays and only with a tour.
Wondering what else there is to see in Brno? Look no further! Here’s my post about 4 Days in Brno
