Jihlava underground
Beneath many cities is an intricate system of corridors and spaces that were used for various purposes in the past. It is no different in Jihlava, the center of the Vysočina region. The Jihlava underground is located below the entire historic town and is the second largest underground complex in the Czech Republic, with an area of 50,000 m2 and a length of about 25 kilometers, right after the Znojmo region. Visitors can admire the work of the ancestors who built this system, as well as the local luminous underground corridor, which in the past did not allow many mysteries to sleep.
Information for visitors
Interesting facts Jihlava underground
The Jihlava underground is also called the catacombs, but it is not the correct name. The name catacombs is used for underground burial grounds, which means that the corridors under Jihlava are not and never have been. Underground spaces probably began to be built as early as the 13th century as cellars due to the higher need for storage space. Over the years and centuries, these cellars were expanded and deepened, between the 14th and 16th centuries, miners dug up to three floors underground. Over time, they were interconnected and a drainage system was also introduced, in which a gutter in the floor drained water to the lower floors, from where it could then be used if necessary. Especially at a time when the corridors served as a shelter. The shaft system, in turn, takes care of thorough ventilation.
In 1978, amateur speleologists discovered a glowing corridor, which is a local rarity. The walls of this corridor are covered with a whitish coating, which glows greenish in the dark after the previous lighting. This corridor is located in the basement of the Church of St. Ignatius and the former barracks where Wermacht lived during the war, one of the theories explaining this phenomenon, therefore, speaks of some paint from this period, and according to research, this is really the right justification.
The visitor circuit is relatively short, measuring only 400 meters, but of which 200 meters leads through really historically preserved spaces. The entrance to the underground is located next to the city library.
Author: Martina Limbergová