In Budějovice
Vodárenská věž
Pěšky 28 min
At first glance the tower from 1724 can look like a fragment of a castle. In fact it is a technical monument that pumped water from the Vltava into the town, including to the Samson fountain. It was not for drinking. The town got drinking water only in 1882, through a second, entirely separate pipe ending at street fountains. Pipes to flats came only from the 1950s.
The Vodárenská věž on the Vltava bank in Mánesova ulice looks like a castle ruin, but it is a water machine — from 1724 it drove water into town for the Samson fountain. You could not drink it. Drinking water from 1882 used a second pipe to street fountains. Flats were connected only from the 1950s, so even today's locals' great-grandmothers fetched drinking water outside.
Practical details
- Pěšky 28 min
- Opening hours: areál a venkovní stezka volně přístupné celoročně zdarma. Dovnitř jen s komentovanou prohlídkou, v sezoně zhruba květen–září
On site
The tower stands on the right bank, alone in a landscaped site, so you see it whole from below. On the wall facing the town is a large sgraffito by Budějovice painter Richard Kristinus (1865–1926) — from afar it looks like a stain, up close the town coat of arms is readable. It is visible only from this side; walk behind the tower and you miss it. An educational trail circles the tower in eleven stops; at one you can drink from a replica historic fountain and at another try a sluice gate. Behind the tower stands a statue of an animal the public named Čevava in a poll, and a fountain showing the water cycle.
Inside you climb 106 steps to the old reservoir. On the way you can touch original Baroque masonry from 1721–1724 — the oldest part, wrapped but not destroyed by the 1882 rebuild. At the top is a copper tank where water was pressed and flowed into town by gravity.