From Vineyards to Bunker
Folimanka Park lies in the steep valley of the Botič stream, between the districts of Vinohrady, Nusle and Nové Město, directly beneath the concrete arch of the Nusle Bridge. Its origins go back to the 14th century, when the sharp slopes of the Botič valley belonged to a Prague burgher named Jakub Foliman and were covered with vineyards. In the 15th century the area became known for its apricot orchards, and for centuries it passed from hand to hand as a garden estate on the edge of the city.
In the 19th century, Baron Jakub Wimmer transformed the Folimanka estate into an English landscape park. The original manor house survived until the mid-20th century, when it first served as a children's orthopaedic ward before being demolished in the 1960s to make way for construction of the Nusle Bridge. The present-day park — with its playgrounds, skate park and sports hall — took shape after the bridge was completed in 1973.
A Secret Twenty Metres Underground
Few visitors to the park suspect that directly beneath them lies one of the most striking Cold War relics in Prague. Folimanka Shelter was built in strict secrecy in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a refuge for the civilian population in the event of a nuclear or chemical attack. Its foundation was an older anti-aircraft tunnel from the Second World War, which was enlarged, lined with concrete and equipped with a complete survival infrastructure.
The result is a labyrinth of corridors covering a total area of 1,332 m² and stretching over 125 metres in length, buried 20 to 25 metres underground. Capacity: 1,300 people, with supplies sufficient for 72 hours. The interior reflects the paranoid thoroughness of communist civil defence — armoured entrance doors, five wells, a medical room, two morgues, two oxygen rooms with a pressurised ventilation system, a diesel generator dating from 1955 (still operational), two emergency exits and several emergency hatches.
Folimanka in the Novel — The Place of the Greatest Secret
In The Secret of All Secrets, the Folimanka shelter is more than mere backdrop — it is the place where the very core of the conspiracy is hidden. Brown's imagination transforms the Cold War concrete labyrinth into a secret CIA laboratory, where experimental operations on the human brain are conducted deep beneath the streets of Prague. A secret bunker that was inaccessible to the public for decades and classified as a top-secret facility under the communist regime made it the perfect setting for such a story. The action unfolds not only around the park but inside the underground maze of corridors itself, where Langdon and the other characters face the final confrontation.
Why Folimanka?
Folimanka is a remarkably obscure place by Prague standards. While Charles Bridge or the Clementinum are known to every visitor, Folimanka remains largely the preserve of locals. That was one of the reasons Dan Brown — who visited Prague several times and researched places tourists typically overlook when preparing the novel — chose to include it. The combination of a tranquil green park with a dramatic subterranean Cold War world, all overshadowed by the mass of the Nusle Bridge and with views of Vyšehrad opening from the nearby Bastion, creates a backdrop that could have been lifted straight from Brown's favourite collision of past and present.
Key Facts about Folimanka Shelter
Construction: 1959–1962, by expanding an anti-aircraft tunnel from the Second World War. Classified top secret throughout the communist era.
Dimensions: 1,332 m² of floor area, 250 m of corridors, depth 20–25 m. Capacity 1,300 people for up to 72 hours.
Equipment: armoured doors, 5 wells, diesel generator (1955), oxygen rooms with pressurised ventilation, medical room, 2 morgues.
Today: free public tours on one Saturday each month (9 am – 3 pm). Free admission, fully accessible. Address: Pod Karlovem 2, Prague 2.