Tips for the best underground and catacombs in the Czech Republic
The underground has an air of mystery, but at the same time they are a practical demonstration of the skill and cleverness of our ancestors. The underground was used to store food and other things, they served as shelters or even escape routes. There are a large number of them on the territory of the Czech Republic, some of which even hold certain records. On hot steamy days a trip to the cold spaces located underground, which inspire astonishment at the skill of the builders, will come in handy. You can find an underground in almost any city, most historical buildings had a cellar or other cold spaces where food, beer or other raw materials were stored. But only some of them are really worth it. On the other hand, there are the catacombs, which arouse interest in themselves, because these underground spaces were used for burying the deceased. The same applies to ossuaries, in which human remains were deposited in the form of bones, which can still be found in some ossuaries today.
Jihlav underground
If you like mystery and ghost stories, then you should be interested in Jihlava's underground, which has been in existence since the 14th century. In terms of size, it ranks second in the Czech Republic, right after the largest underground complex in Znojmo. It is for the public up to 10 kilometers of the total 25 kilometers of corridors made accessible in Jihlava. But it's not so much about the number of corridors, more interesting is just one of them, which glows in the dark. Although, according to experts, it should be caused by the paint used on the wall by the Germans during the Second World War, the place is still associated with mystery. Several times the shadow of a monk was seen moving around.
Slavonic underground
Although it is not one of the longest, it is still one of the very interesting undergrounds in our territory. Information about the underground is rather short, as no written material has been preserved that would talk about the time of its creation or the purpose of the underground. Only the archaeological work, which helped make the originally flooded underground accessible, gave at least partial answers. The Slavonic underground consists of corridors only 1,5 meters high and 0,5 meters wide, the purpose of which was apparently to drain the underground water that flooded the cellars with food. Everything was dug into the rock by hand and that already sometime in the 13th century.
Klatov catacombs
Catacombs, which are not literally catacombs, can be found under the town of Klatovy. They are known for the crypt that was built underground under the Jesuit church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Saint Ignatius. They were in the underground of the church during the 17th and 18th centuries important members of the Jesuit order are buried and their benefactors, on whose mummified bodies in coffins you can take a look today. The bodies were literally preserved thanks to the very good conditions underground.
Rabštejn underground factory
The underground factory located in Rabštejn is from much more modern times. She was in the rock here a factory built by the hands of prisoners from the Rabštejn concentration camp at the turn of 1944 – 1945. The labyrinth of underground passages is 4,5 kilometers long. They later produced parts of helicopters and airplanes for Germany in several halls, where up to several thousand people worked.
Tábor underground
The town of Tábor was founded in 1420 by the Hussites. When building their houses, they also thought of their supplies, for which they dug cellars at a depth of up to 16 meters underground, while in some places there are up to three floors. Cellars in the Tábor underground they were connected in the middle of the last century so that they could be opened to the public, thanks to which you can visit a medieval underground that is about 500 meters long, out of the estimated 14 kilometers that the underground seems to be in total. It is possible to complete the tour with a guide dressed in period clothing.
