Brno is one of not many cities in the Czech Republic which can pride itself for a touristic phenomenon – a network of underground tunnels, corridors, shafts, crypts and cellars. Visitors can look forward to mysterious nooks and crannies of medieval cellars.

One of the oldest squares in Brno is called Zelny trh. It was first mentioned as Horni trh in sources coming from the 13th century and the present-day name was given to the square in the 15th century. It has always been a very busy place where vendors offered their produce and other goods. The labyrinth under Vegetable Market is a system of underground corridors and cellars, located in the historical centre of the City of Brno, in the South Moravian Region. Some cellars were discovered in the middle ages but most of them dates back to the baroque era. Originally, these individual cellar units were not connected together until 2009, the year of a major reconstruction, and two years later they were opened to public. The biggest cellar is almost 23 metres (75 ft) long and its height varies from 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 4 metres (13 ft), and the deepest cellar is situated 13 metres (43 ft) under the city.

In fact, the whole labyrinth is composed of two distinctive parts. The one, which is located in the lower part of the square near the Reduta Theater, watches social gatherings and cultural events. The second one where guided tours are possible gives tourists a better vision about the life in the era when these cellars were built and served for food keeping, beer brewing, maturing of wine in barrels or as hideouts during wars and other things, for example they were used as cool storage rooms for the busy marketplace above them. A part of the tour also represents a glance into an “alchemist lab” where the visitors can see an office of medieval doctors, pharmacists and experimenters who worked in Brno and made it famous throughout Europe.

For more information about the South Moravian Region where this place is located click here.