Zbiornik Wody Stary Sobieski
Information
The Stary Sobieski Water Reservoi
Nineteen stops deep into a place that remained closed for decades. Cross the unassuming façade and step into the heart of Gdańsk's former water supply system: from the valve chamber, where every drop was once controlled, along two great rings through which water once flowed, all the way to the permanent exhibition. Tracing the history of the city's water across the centuries — medieval wells and wooden pipes, wartime destruction, cast-iron mains, fountains that no longer exist — you'll arrive at a model of old Gdańsk, a Venetian well, and finally, a model of the Reservoir itself. Along the way, listen closely to this place: here, even a whisper returns to you as an echo.
Hidden atop Gallows Hill in Gdańsk, behind an unassuming neoclassical facade, the Old Sobieski Water Tank conceals a vast underground chamber built in 1911. For decades, this reinforced concrete structure — nearly 50 meters in diameter, with two chambers holding 5,000 cubic meters of water — supplied the city with drinking water using gravity alone. Decommissioned in the late 1970s and long inaccessible to visitors, it is now one of the most remarkable points on the Gdańsk Water Supply Trail. Inside, a permanent exhibition tells the story of the city's water — from medieval wells and wooden pipes to modern engineering — while the tank's exceptional acoustics carry even a whisper as an echo for hundreds of steps.
Itineraries
The Stary Sobieski Water Reservoi
Nineteen stops deep into a place that remained closed for decades. Cross the unassuming façade and step into the heart of Gdańsk's former water supply system: from the valve chamber, where every drop was once controlled, along two great rings through which water once flowed, all the way to the permanent exhibition. Tracing the history of the city's water across the centuries — medieval wells and wooden pipes, wartime destruction, cast-iron mains, fountains that no longer exist — you'll arrive at a model of old Gdańsk, a Venetian well, and finally, a model of the Reservoir itself. Along the way, listen closely to this place: here, even a whisper returns to you as an echo.
