In Budějovice
Vodárenská věž
On foot 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 tower is forty-four metres high, stands on the right bank of the Vltava by Litvínovický most, and after three hundred years still works: the water company tests water meters in it. The grounds with an educational trail are freely accessible and free of charge. Inside you can go in season with a guide — up 105 steps to the huge tank from which water flowed into town by gravity, and past unplastered Baroque masonry.
Practical details
- On foot 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.