Folimanka Nuclear Fallout Shelter (Pražský kryt Folimanka), Prague

Back in the 1960s, nuclear fallout shelters were all the rage. There are hundreds of civil protection shelters in Prague – one of the largest is in a residential area, hidden under Folimanka park.

The Folimanka shelter (Pražský kryt Folimanka) has a capacity of 1,300 people, an area of 1332 m², armoured doors, water wells and a 30kW electrical generator.

This massive underground shelter is on Pod Karlovem street – nearest tram stop is Nuselské schody. Just walk along Pod Karlovem street until you reach No.2 and the entrance to the shelter is across the street – but it’s usually shut. You can visit nearby R2-D2 anytime.

Opening dates for 2023 (always a Saturday 09:00 – 15:00):

11th February
18th March
15th April
13th May
17th June
15th July
19th August
16th September
14th October
11th November
16th December

https://krytfolimanka.cz/en/

Entrance is free you can wander through the labyrinth of tunnels and rooms freely. Most signs, posters and information are in Czech.

The following video is a walk through the shelter.

There is still old plant and machinery down there for water, air filtration and electricity supplies. There were a few rooms set aside for showers and toilets – although it seems that privacy wasn’t something that fallout survivors could expect as the toilet cubicles had no doors and the showers were communal. I didn’t see any obvious bedrooms and so I’m not sure where survivors were supposed to sleep.

This ball looks like it came from the Prisoner TV series.

I followed signs to the Bělehradská street exit and found myself walking up two steep tunnels. I finally arrived at a large, locked iron door. Later when I was back outside, I could guess that this door was on the top of the hill – I’d hardly noticed it before.