Parní vodárna Chválkovice Waterworks

Welcome to Chválovice. You are standing in front of one of the most important technical objects in our entire region. Look at this building right in front of your eyes. Her appearance is very specific and will immediately transfer you to another era. Feel its strong, rectangular shape and those characteristic saddle roofs that provide a whole stability and strong appearance. This whole object is very compact and at the same time monumental. It is a construction that has been designed to serve its purpose for decades, and it is actually succeeding. Feel the atmosphere of a place that, for many years, has been the complete center of the life rhythm of the entire area.

To understand why this building is so special, we must go back deep into the past together. Imagine 1889. The world was changing very quickly, people were building cities, developing industry, and looking for ways to secure basic needs for the growing population. One of the most important needs was clean and reliable drinking water. It was in this crucial year that this steam water plant was built to carry out this task. The whole ambitious project was prepared according to the proposals of Korte a spol. The implementation itself, i.e. how the paper plans became a real brick and steel, was then entrusted to Prager Machinenbau, Aktien Gesellschaft. This building was not just an ordinary builder, it was the technological tip of its time, which brought the most important to people - life-giving water.

Now pay attention to the architecture itself and to what you can see around you. This building is not just an empty box, it is a complex storey object that has been designed with tremendous emphasis on functionality. If you focus on its structure, you realize that it connects different worlds. The engine room, where the most important technical work took place, and the boiler room, which was a source of heat and energy for the whole process, is located in its interior. But perhaps the most surprising thing is that this building was not just an industrial site. It was also part of the human home. This building included apartments for employees. This means that the work and private life of the people who took care of the water were connected here in one whole. You can imagine the people who went to work here every day and then just a few steps back to their homes.

However, the history of this place has not changed and has evolved. Time has brought great changes that have affected not only the operation, but also the appearance of the whole area. Since 1958, this building has been recognised as a real-estate cultural monument, which shows how valuable it is to our history and culture. But the biggest break was around 1960. That's when one chapter closed and the other opened. The steam operation that ruled here after many decades had to give way to more modern electricity. But with this technological change, what the building looks like from the outside has changed. You might imagine, but at the time, there was a very high chimney at the boiler room, which was seen from far away. The high pillar of the sky is no longer here today, it was removed around 1960, but its absence still resembles the era when a steam engine ruled.

Now we want to reveal to you something that makes this place truly absolutely unique. You may have seen many old buildings, but this one is different. This steam water plant in Chválovice is the only preserved steam water plant in the whole Czech Republic, which stands in its original, historical environment. This is a completely unprecedented phenomenon. Most of these buildings have either completely disappeared or have been rebuilt or have been transferred elsewhere. Here, however, everything remained as it was proposed in 1889. It's like a time machine that allows you to see technology and architecture exactly the way it looked at the time of its greatest bloom.

Look at the details, see the shapes, and imagine the noise of the machines and the heat coming from the boilers that once were a common phenomenon. This monument is a living witness to human progress and efforts to improve life. Now we invite you to explore further. Take a walk around, see the atmosphere of this place and try to find traces of history in every corner that remains here. Thank you for coming to this extraordinary place and for taking the liberty of paying attention to this history. We wish you a pleasant tour.