PHOTO GALLERY: Take a look at the largest anti – nuclear shelter in Prague Company News Pražská Drbna
Below the hill in the Parukářka park in Prague’s Žižkov are the excavated corridors of the largest anti-nuclear shelter in the whole of Prague, the Bezovka bunker. It was originally built for 5,000 people. Read how many people would take refuge in it today, who could hide in the bunker and how many people would hide in shelters throughout the capital.
Bezovka will hide 2,500 people
Five entrances lead to the largest anti-nuclear shelter Bezovka, one of them, the main one, is at the plot at the entrance to the Parukářka park. The entrance is secured by a four-ton armored door. As we walk through them, a spiral staircase to the underground appears in front of us. “You can count it, it’s 84 steps, we’ll go down four floors,” says guide Ivan Gálik. The peculiarity of the Bezovka cover is that it is not too deep, but it is protected by a hill above it. In the deepest places, there is up to 25 meters of soil somewhere above the cover.
The bunker was established between 1957 and 1959. “If the nuclear weapon of the then production exploded on Wenceslas Square, the people in the shelter should survive,” describes Ivan. During peacetime, the cover is preserved and should be put on standby by authorized people within 24 hours.
At the time of its creation, it was expected that the Bezovka bunker would hide up to 5,000 inhabitants. Today’s capacity is half the size, so 2,500 people would now fit in the shelter, which is still ready for use. I reckon that the person inside would have about one square meter for himself. It wouldn’t be completely comfortable. “It’s like Airbnb without bnb,” laughing guide.
Thursday, March 17, 2022, 6:41 AM
The president, government and ministries have their covers
We walk through the corners of the shelter, which today serves as the museum’s premises. In other corridors today we would find warehouses run by firefighters or police officers. “The corridors are similar everywhere, this is what it looks like in the whole shelter, with the difference that in some other corridors, firefighters store things that are needed during the floods, for example.” Ivan explains.
Bezovka cover is ready for everyone. Anyone can head to it before the capacity is full. “The government has its own shelter in Klárov, there is a presidential shelter under Prague Castle, the ministry has its own shelters as well as the army. From time to time, people ask if this was a cover for high-ranking politicians. No, it’s always been for the general population. “
According to our guide, almost half a million people would get to shelters all over Prague at one point. “According to the project, the metro system alone is to cover about thirty percent of the population of Prague,” says Ivan. People would find refuge in the Bezovka bunker for about three to four days. “The covers were designed for three to four days. It is so that inside, people survive the direct effect of a nuclear bomb, a heat, light and radiation wave. As soon as it subsides, people in raincoats will be evacuated twenty or thirty kilometers from the ruined city. “