This is the stuff of horror movies. Prague is full of shelters and hidden underground pathways. Many of them are not yet known, they haven't been discovered. But those near Vyšehrad have. And for the first time ever, they have been opened to the public as part of the "A Day Underground" event, which runs until 15 March this year. The casemates in Podolí have a lot to offer - rumour has it that they're still a little haunted today...
These underground corridors were built during the 17th century as part of the Vyšehrad underground corridor system.
Vyšehrad gang
After 1938, they were converted into anti-aircraft shelters, used during the Second World War by Rudolf Jedlička's Prague Sanatorium, which had been transformed into a SS field hospital back then. In the fifties the corridors served as a meeting place of the so-called Vyšehrad Riders, a Prague youth street gang revolting against the communist regime.
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"It is said that this used to be their territory and if you look at the walls and see all the swastikas and messages left here, it is probably true. We have yet to find a surviving Vyšehrad Rider,"
said Petr Kučera, director of the Vyšehrad National Cultural Monument organisation.
Open in gallery (2)
Mnoho chodem končí ve skále. Source: LP-life.cz
Mystery
He also admitted that although the corridors had never been opened to the public before, the locals naturally knew about them, so it often happened that they found the locks broken, which indicated that someone was regularly visiting the corridors.
Because certain parts of the corridors are really spooky, the Saturday group was all the more surprised when the guide found out that someone had replaced the lock in the last 24 hours and had a piece of the floor had been stolen.
"Maybe one of the Vyšehrad Riders keeps coming here, this is a real mystery,"
Kučera can't believe his own eyes.
Open in gallery (2)
Tady "někdo" vyměnil zámek.Source: LP-life.cz
In a space of 250 meters, one can explore various rooms that were completed in 1938, when they were converted into anti-aircraft shelters. You'll find here a plethora of relics from the pre-war era - gates, switchboards, niches for supplies or period toilets.
The organization is trying to make the whole system of Vyšehrad casemates accessible to the public. They are hoping it will become reality later this year, during April and May.
