The first tank ©Jonathan Turton, 2026
Where better to go on a scorching summer day than underground. Nowhere, that’s where. Better still if underground is a set of three cavernous structures that used to supply Brno with water, but have been drained and turned into an attraction. The tanks have only been opened in their entirety for a couple of years, and have rapidly become a Brno must-see (even in milder weather).
Unless you do the tour there’s not loads of information, but we picked up that English engineer Thomas Docwra built the first tank (“vault” might be a better word) in the late 19th century. Each tank is slightly different. The first has a 1990s computer game feel – think Quake or Doom – its hand-made red-fired bricks creating a mesmerising repetitious curved geometry.
The second tank, built 20 years after the first, is simpler though no less impressive. Your shoes will get wet. Water drips down the pillars and has nowhere to go, though supports small lichens and plants that cling on where water seeps down, bringing nature into this subterranean cathedral.
The third tank, finished in 1917, is concrete and has a very different feel. The phenomenal acoustics were well tested by both a tour group and children. A sporadic laser light show that is much more arty than flashy, bounces off the pillars and ceilings, and there’s a spooky light-art installation in an adjacent room.
Overall, this was not quite like anything I’d seen before.
8/10