It took ten years to build, and the hard rock was advanced centimetres. Nevertheless, in 1593, the kilometer-long tunnel saw the opening of the sluice gates to feed the water from the Vltava river on the orders of Emperor Rudolph II. Royal branch in today’s Stromovka, Prague. Even after 430 years since its completion, it is an impressive structure that revealed the construction methods of the time tens of meters below the surface.
Detailed records from the time map out the demanding procedure and techniques used tens of meters below the surface of Prague’s Letná. The reason for the slow excavation was the constant inflow of water, collapses, but also the very hard rock, which changed its properties every moment. Take a look at the bowels of the kilometer-long Rudolph tunnel, which is still covered in legends.
