Hundreds of people visited the unique underground system of the Plasy Monastery

Plasy (Plzeň Region) - Hundreds of people are heading this weekend to the underground spaces of the monastery in Plasy in northern Plzeň. In places not otherwise accessible to visitors, they can exceptionally explore the unique water and air system of this Baroque masterpiece.
     The monumental convent, which is primarily the work of builder Jan Blažej Santini, hides an approximately three-century-old technical marvel in its underground. The monastery stands on thousands of wooden piles driven into the ground and surrounded by water. “Such a perfect system, specifically designed for the construction of a building, does not exist elsewhere in the Czech Republic,” said castle administrator Pavel Duchoň today to ČTK.
     Similar tours are offered by the monastery once a year. "Interest is so great that we have to turn people away," Duchoň stated. In addition to the underground water system, visitors will also learn about another unique feature - the air heating system. A subterranean corridor runs around the cloister courtyard, where heat is gathered in the summer and warm air then enters the building during cooler periods.
     "Without water, this building would collapse," proclaims a Latin inscription on one of the foundation stones in the monastery's underground. The convent was built from 1711 to 1740 in the floodplain of the Střela River. The building's foundations consist of 5,100 oak piles driven into the swampy soil of the river meander, over which the builders laid a beam grid, and only then was the masonry of the building placed. To prevent the grid from rotting and the building from subsiding, water was brought to the foundations, which prevented air from reaching the wood. According to Duchoň, the piles measure from one to eight meters and have dimensions of 40 by 40 centimeters. According to expert research, the oak used for one of the piles began to grow in 1132, the administrator noted. "Even today, we check the height, temperature, and quality of the water in the foundations in two reservoirs inside the building four times a day," he added.