Prague water towers Radio Prague International
Among the hundreds of tower-shaped buildings that Prague can boast of, there are somewhat unreleased reservoirs. Usually, its height and size do not surpass churches, they do not serve as lookout towers and, with a few exceptions, you cannot admire the rich sculptural or stucco decoration. On the contrary, a number of valuable technical and often historical monuments have been preserved among them, which deserve attention and protection.
The oldest water supply in the capital was based on abundant springs, from which the pipeline led to important buildings by gravity. The rich water source, such as the Vltava, began to be used only when the pumps were designed. The energy for them was generated by the wheels of water mills spun by a river current.
The main functions of reservoirs always remain in water retention in case of supply disruptions of this important raw material and in older times also in the fire protection strategy. In addition, the purpose of tower reservoirs is to balance the differences between the supply of water from sources and abstraction at the point of consumption and to ensure water pressure.
In the Czech lands, the first tower reservoirs appeared at the end of the Gothic period more than 600 years ago. Provide to the fact that they have wooden structures, they have not been preserved. In their place, stone and brick buildings began to be built in the 16th century. In the capital you can still admire the water towers from this period – Novomlýnská, Staroměstská, Šítkovská and Malostranská. The boom in the construction of tower reservoirs was brought about by the period of the Industrial Revolution. Probably the largest majority of water sciences since the second half of the 19th century were railway reservoirs. Steam traction requires regular water replenishment, so almost every station had its own tanks. It is true that these buildings usually did not exceed three storeys in height, so they looked like ordinary farm buildings. In the 20th century, in connection with the modernization of water supply networks, the importance of tower reservoirs in cities gradually decreased, they often began to decay, new construction gave way or they were adapted for other purposes.
Individual chapters of the summer series Prague water towers they bring short stories of more than twenty places in the capital with interesting water towers, which to this day co-create the development or landscape of Prague.
