Krizik Fountain

During the 20th century, the Křižík Fountain, which is considered to be unique in Europe, was reconstructed into its current form. Already in its time, the fountain was a technical miracle, for which Křižík used 26 arc lamps, which he invented himself. In the 25 x 45 m fountain, 3,000 nozzles are used, into which water is supplied by fifty pumps. The play of colors is provided by 1,248 underwater spotlights, which are extremely impressive during the evening performances. The pool in which the fountain is located has a water volume of 1,650 m3.

After commissioning, water was blown into the nozzles by an electric motor and jetted to a height of several meters. From below, the water was illuminated by powerful light sources located below the surface. Color rotating filters were then placed in front of them. Everything was controlled by another pump, which served still other surrounding fountains. Thanks to the changing color of the foamy water, an extraordinary impression is created against the dark sky. Křižík's fountain immediately became known throughout Europe.

During the Second World War, a fire tank was installed instead of the original pool, and after years the entire building was waterlogged and crashed.

On May 15, 1991, the Křižík Fountain was put back into operation, which was started by the Smetana Vltava River, and which was mainly thanks to Ing. arch. Milan Honzík and dipl. Ing. arch. Zdeněk Stašek. The sound system is provided by about 60 speakers and there are a total of 24 pumps in the underground with an output of 70 liters / second and a water pressure of up to 20 m. The fountain is controlled by a computer with special software and program, which is always created for each new performance.

The performance of the fountain is focused on both classical and modern music or staging performances. Carmen, Romeo and Juliet, Rusalka or Swan Lake were played here.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová