Town historical cellars

The historical cellars are mostly well preserved. They were dug out in a sandy hillock in the middle of the city between the years 1555 – 1595 on the order of the owner of the manor, Kryštof of Karlovice.

The cellars were built in order to efficiently protect the property, the documents and the precious products against natural disasters. The main incentive for building such an underground system apparently was the destructive fire of Jirkov in 1554. Soon enough the cellars began to be used for storing and fermenting beer which was brewed in Jirkov from 1443 until 1976. The cellars were used by the German army during the Second World War. Even today some of the halls are marked with guiding marks; such preserved marking is found at the base of Wehrmacht headquarters as well.

The cellars originally consisted of nearly 150 sections. In the first half of the 19th century, Jirkov citizens built a big city brewery above the western part of the cellars. It was the first manor interference in the cellar integrity. In June 2006, a third of the cellars had to make way for the Tesco supermarket. The remaining rooms stayed untouched. There are five similar underground systems in the Czech Republic, of which the cellars in Jirkov are the oldest.

Since 2004, the cellars were redeveloped by a professional firm, Speleo Semily, in cooperation with volunteers from the FreeTime Centre who prepared the area for opening to the public. The sightseeing area was made accessible in May 2007.

Opening hours: ( 1. May – 30. September )

Season Opening hours
Monday – Sunday 10:00 – 16:00 hod.

Admission:

Species Price
Adults 70 CZK
Children, students, seniors and disabled 40 CZK

The tour around the cellars starts every hour, bookings are preferred.

The access in the cellars is administered by the Jirkov Information Centre.