History of the Underground
The building of some corridors began in the 2nd half of the13th century. At that time there was the construction of the foundation of the city proper and a large number of stone buildings. Each of the houses had an excavated cellar - the basis for future underground space.This excavated underground or cellar, in many cases, was dug in the remnants of the original semi-sunk wooden buildings. (These were ground wood construction, possibly timbered buildings. )
In some cases these wooden buildings served only as a temporary makeshift location during the construction of new buildings. Wood structures were a significant part of the medieval city until the end of the 13th century. Stone houses at that time were financially very expensive.)
The underground construction is simple, using resources that are commensurate with the medieval technique: chisel, bars, picks and tools for extracting material. More sophisticated families even had wooden wheels. The "bitting" of rock (in Žlutice the medium-grade metamorphic schists ) was sometimes used by burning wood, which is rapidly cooled with water. Hard rock cracks and then is removed. It is clear that it was not easy work, because it was done by prisoners, workmen, but also professional miners.
Excavated material was used to build walls or to make minor alterations to existing buildings. A precise time of underground space construction, or the start of expanding basement townhouses, has not been determined. The underground emerged gradually over several centuries, according to the possibilities and needs of the citizens.
The obstacle for the precise dating of the underground spaces is the fact that it is almost impossible to distinguish the technological process of excavation because it did not change from the 13th century through the first third of the 17th century, when the use of gunpowder began.
Also, at that time, agricultural and craft production began to rapidly develop and grow. Artisans, farmers and townspeople began to feel a lack of adequate storage space for their products. This phenomenon was common not only in Žlutice, but throughout the land, leading to the spatial disposition of the medieval stone town buildings.
However, because the townspeople had to deal with capacity issues, and also the optimality of storage space, to solve this problem, they went the only way possible. They solved it down - under the ground. This was not only caused by lack of space on the surface, but due to the nature of the suitability of such products, in particular storage areas. The use of this space was of course also suitable for other types of crafts. Cellars meet these requirements to a wide extent, mainly due to a year-round optimal unchanging environment that these products require. In the beginning, when only a modest expansion of the capacity of existing basements in individual townhouses was required, the townspeople usually handled it themselves, in terms of workforce and the technology available. As the areas began to extend in depth, the townspeople were forced to call in experts for this activity. It is unclear, however, where and when the experts - the miners- arrived, or were invited.
The scope and pace of development was dependent not only on the financial possibilities of individual submitters, the affluent burghers and craftsmen, but also on the current overall situation in the city.
The underground spaces were sometimes by citizens as places to store junk, ashes and residue from the construction activities. In 1974, clearing of some spaces was begun for professionals, geologists and conservationists. Around 1977, plans began for a museum underground.This whole area was two-storey basements flooded with water for years.
Designers came up with the idea to link these cellars with the original drainage system, which in the Middle Ages continued to work under the city. It was necessary to dig an additional passage in the rock 13.5 meters in length, about 8 meters below ground, on Carlsbad street from the building under the police station. The rock at this depth was very good, so that workers (or better miners) had to only use hammers, but also with some blasting. This connected the water flows into the main hall, which dates from the former castle and the town square. In the basement of the museum, there is a small fountain where visitors throw coins for good luck.
Currently the underground is mapped, but not in good condition. The rehabilitation of some cellars, eg the cultural house is finished with project documentation. Repair costs are not prohibitively high but the city's budget is not proficient enough to cover these costs. The cellars, as a whole, have been declared a national monument.
The Use
The underground passages depth is due to the constant temperature throughout the year (5 to 10 ° C = 41 to 50°F), and so were used in earlier times for the warehousing of beer and agricultural products.
Some areas were used for medieval justice (the cell beneath the museum).
Equally important was the use of the local subway system for the production of beer. In the home cellars, brewing beer fermented, aged and was stored.
The fridge (ice chamber) was used to store ice. It was part of a sophisticated system of the home brewing cellars - ice was placed on a higher floor and then the melted water flowed into the lower space so that the fermenting rooms and cellars were cooled. Today the fridge houses a small theater. Occasional performances are staged here along with weddings or wine tastings.
Another important use of the underground was the access to water, or to the springs and reservoirs.
Over time, cellars were enlarged and deepened, and originated sometimes up three floors with interconnected cellars. The underground system became part of the city defense system in times of war, fights and riots. The underground passages were not only a storehouse of food and safe haven for residents, but were also used as a communication route. According to legend, one of the corridors leads to the castle Nevděk.
In the northern basement lapidary - Baroque statues from Žlutice area and the coat of arms of the former salthouse (military images carved in stone - guns and drums in addition to the double eagle, which could come from a time of the garrison prison in the Royal Artillery)