Prague’s sewers are flush with history: Peek inside 120 years later

At the beginning of the 20th century, Prague was a city of open drains, courtyard waste, and sewage running through its streets. Bad smells and filth were part of daily life, and epidemics spread with alarming regularity.

A new open-air exhibition on Rašínovo nábřeží, along with a series of behind-the-scenes tours, reveals in ripe detail the feats of underground engineering that helped transform the Czech capital from a medieval town struggling with sanitation into a modern European metropolis.

Now open to the public, the "Sewers" (Stoky) photo exhibition marks the 120th anniversary of Prague’s modern sewage system and the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubeneč.

The exhibit on Náplavka is just the beginning of a month-long celebration of Prague's water history. Throughout March, the public is invited to explore the bowels of the city's infrastructure via guided tours of the historic underground spaces and special events that offer insights into how the system continues to serve the growing city today.

The exhibition highlights a massive engineering feat that began over a century ago. Before this system was built, managing waste in the city streets was a constant struggle for public health. Thanks to an extraordinary investment 120 years ago, Prague implemented a system that was—and in many ways still is—unmatched in Europe for its technical precision.

"Prague's underground isn't just technical infrastructure; it’s an extraordinary heritage from generations of builders," says Michal Hroza, Prague's Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure.

He notes that the goal today is to preserve these sites, much like the ongoing transformation of the Vinohrady Water Tower into the "Hydropolis" educational center.

The scale of the project is hard to wrap one's head around. The system was built manually over five years, using a staggering 15 million waterproof bricks.

To put that in perspective, Cyril Holub, head of the museum at the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant, points out that if you loaded those bricks onto trucks, the convoy would stretch for 43 kilometers.

The photographs on display capture the surprising beauty of these brick-lined tunnels and chambers.

“The exhibition provides an insight into a system that is technically sophisticated, aesthetically surprising, and historically extremely valuable,” Holub says, adding that while underground infrastructure is often invisible, its importance is fundamental.

“Two meters below the streets of Prague lies the story of engineering genius, craftsmanship, and the daily work of the people who keep the system running. Without them, the city could not function.”

Since 2014, the café at the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant has been accessible and frequented by visitors on tours. Designed by British civil engineer Sir William Heerlein Lindley, the plant was built between 1901 and 1906.

Declared a national cultural monument in 2010 and an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage in 2016, it was submitted for UNESCO World Heritage consideration in 2020. Today it serves as a cultural space and events venue.