Rudolfova štola

wow

One end of a tunnel commissioned to be built by Emperor Rudolf II between 1584–93, stopping sporadically when money ran out.Emperor Rudolf II never did anything by half measures. When he wanted to maintain artificial fish ponds in Prague’s Stomovka park, he had a kilometer-long tunnel built from the Vltava river, under Letná and into the landscaped wooded area. At the time it was private imperial property used as a game preserve. This was no small feat. Much of what is known as Rudolfova štola, or Rudolfine Tunnel, had to be built through solid rock centuries before the invention of dynamite. The keystone of the arch has the letter “R” and an imperial crown — the mark of Rudolf II.

As far as historical sewers go, this is a clear winner! It's locked off by a gate, but with a flashlight you can have a shufti. If you could get in, and with hip-high wellintons, and if you're free of claustrophobia and not easily grossed out, you could probably wade upstream for a bit, but you'd have to get in the water. The tunnel is about 3 m high but only about 1 m wide.

Building works, no access

Under construction now