PRAGUE GUIDE

Are you wondering where in Prague to go on a trip when Prague Castle is occupied by crowds of tourists? The municipal authorities together with the Economic Chamber invite you to a fresh national cultural monument – the Bubeneč waste water treatment plant. After collectors and Podolí Waterworks it is already the third most popular place for unusual adventure tourism in the capital.

The Bubeneč waste water treatment plant (Sewage Plant in Bubeneč) is unique in many ways. It was designed by William Heerlein Lindley between 1895-1906, the technical building architect. Underground buildings are built from seven million bricks, each of them having its own number. The bricks were tested and approved by a commission of builders. The extraordinariness of the waste water treatment plant consists in its construction underground, as generally the waste water treatment plants used to be only on the surface.  In 1991 whole building was declared a protected national monument and has beenconverted into the Eco-technical Museum. On June 1, 2010, the Old sewage cleaning plant in Bubeneč, Prague, became a national historic landmark.

"I am glad that this in many ways unique building has joined such buildings as Charles Bridge or Prague Castle as a national cultural monument. What makes me more happy is the fact that the plant is more open for visitors. They will really see here something that cannot be seen anywhere else," invites Mr Pavel Klega, assistant chief magistrate.

In the steam machine-room visitors can view still functional steam machines from the Breitfeld & Daněk Company from 1903. Most of them are assembled from original parts. In spite of their age all of them are functional, however they are started only rarely. Tourists can get to the underground rack room where the waste water is cleaned of major impurities through screens, or they can get to settlement basins. They will also see the bottom of the Vltava shipping channel.

"Success of collectors and Podolí Waterworks demonstrates that people are also interested in technical monuments. Therefore I am glad the Prague Economic Chamber has started this project and that other rare technical monuments of the capital can be included in it," adds Vadimír Srp, chairman of the board of the Economic Chamber.

Ecotechnical Museum (The Old Sewage Cleaning Station)

It is housed in an old sewage works, which was constructed at the end of the nineteenth century and designed by an Englishman named W.H. Lindsey. A walk along the sewers will form part of the tour, which should be arranged in advance by telephone. www.ekotechnickemuseum.cz