Melnik Guided Tour Underground Well

The main square in Mělnik harbours a secret: an underground well. With a diameter of 4 meters and a depth of 54 meters, it can hardly be overlooked. Yet, on the Main Square there is no sign of this well apart from a large circle on the ground.

In the Middle Ages, the well provided the city with drinking water. Visit the well on a guided tour that starts at the tourist office. The first tour starts at 11am and the last is at 5pm. The guided tour takes 30 minutes and is well worth joining.

Each participant dons a hardhat, as the tunnels are only three meters wide and two to five meters high. They are about ten meters below street level.

Through Tunnels to the Well

After entering through a small door, you walk through a tunnel until you get right under the town hall. Here you will see a modern brick pillar that was built at the same time as the town hall in the early 20th century. The architects were concerned that the subsurface would not be able to support the weight of the new building, so it was reinforced from below in three places.

Manually-dug Well

The well was dug by hand in the thirteenth century. On the square in front of the town hall, you will see a round circle on the ground. This was the site of the well. The water was winched up in buckets.

As the city grew, a single water source was not enough and by the mid-16th century another system with several fountains and a water tower came into use.

The underground cellars used to be the storage areas of individual homes and commercial enterprises such as breweries and wineries. By connecting the individual cellars, tunnels were created that served as a refuge in the event of fire or in times of war.

Audio guide if you don’t understand Czech

The tour takes 30 minutes, even though the total distance you cover is only about three hundred meters. The guide provides very detailed information in Czech. An audio guide is available free of charge for foreign visitors.

Trivia

* The tunnel vault is 2 meters below street level
* The vault is half a meter thick
* The water was hoisted up in buckets weighing 130 kg each
* The air temperature in the tunnels is 12 to 17°C
* The water temperature is 13°C
* The rock is sandstone
* In 1643 during the Thirty Years’ War, Swedish soldiers hid guns and other weapons in the tunnels. They were removed again in 1851. Now they can be seen in the Regional Museum in Melnik

Getting there

The Mělník Tourist Information Centre is at Náměstí Míru 11. If you arrive early for the tour, there are seats where you can wait until the tour starts. There is also a toilet.

Mělník: what to see
Mělník is a provincial town 50 km north of Prague, easily accessible by public transport and very suitable for a day trip. The sights include the castle overlooking the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava Rivers. It is a pleasant town with plenty of restaurants. Plan your visit on a weekday because shops are closed on Saturdays and Sundays

Public Transport
Take bus 369 from Ladvi metro station in Prague and get off in Melnik at the Fibichova stop, the journey time is about 45 minutes.

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photos: Fred van Gansenwinkel and Fiona van Rees Vellinga