Nuclear Bunkers in Nowa Huta

Nuclear bunkers in Nowa Huta NurPhoto/ Contributor/ Getty Images

NurPhoto/ Contributor/ Getty Images

One of the most prominent examples of Socialist architecture in Poland, Nowa Huta, the embodiment of a perfect socialist city. Piotr Tomaszewski-Guillon / dronographyapplied.com/ CC BY-SA 4.0

dariuszwozniak (Atlas Obscura User)

Johan SWE (Atlas Obscura User)

we had some trouble understanding the exact location of the nowa huta bunkers; so finally here’s the answer: first you gotta purchase your tickets at the museum; the museum is going to have some remodeling soon, but at the time of our visit it had a temporary exhibition about jazz during the communist era and (at the end of that exhibition) it holds the first part of the bunker. this first bunker is the biggest and most impressive and it is hidden inside an old cinema. after exiting, you have to walk at it is shown in the map to get to the second part of the bunker, which is much smaller and is hidden inside a school; you actually have to get through the building to find it. anyway, this visit was completely worth it and is still a hidden gem off the beaten path. i think in the future, it will become a more modern and touristy spot, but for now i gotta thank atlas oscura for helping me discover it. i totally recommend it! plus nowa huta is actually an interesting area to explore and the people are incredibly kind. facebookdenatalia (Atlas Obscura User)

Nowa Huta, the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland, has a secret. The post-war district translates to “New Steelworks” and was built to house the city’s steelworkers. The ambitious urban planning project was designed as a model utopian socialist city. But that’s not even the most interesting part of Nowa Huta.

Under Nowa Huta, there is a second underground city. Hundreds of bunkers and shelters were built during Poland’s communist era in case of war with the West. Many of the underground structures survive to this day, including a hospital, a command center, and rooms for residents. In total, there are over 250 rooms.

Walking along the streets of Nowa Huta, few people pay attention to the small booths and vents sticking out of the ground. But they are the only link between two worlds: the lively streets and the quiet, forgotten shelters. Small ventilation holes are all that connect the present and the past.

Work on the oldest shelters began in 1949 in the area of today’s Na Skarpie and Wanda estates. The history of these underground structures is inseparably linked with Nowa Huta’s history and early construction.

The later shelters were built as Nowa Huta grew, such as under the former Światowid cinema, where the Nowej Huty Museum is now located. Underground shelters were also located under residential buildings, such as under Stalowe 16 estate (formerly the House of Young Workers, a workers’ hotel) where there was a command post for district authorities. Modern building cellars are also located in the shelters.

The condition of the shelters varies. Some, like the one at Szkolny 22 estate, are decently preserved. Others require a thorough renovation.

Only a few shelters are easily accessible to the public. One is the Command Post Shelter built in the late 1950s. This shelter was built beneath the main administrative offices of the steel plant and can be seen on the Kombinat Steelworks Office Tour (located at 1 Ujastek). The Muzeum Nowej Huty, formerly the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) Museum, also leads tours of its underground bunker (their address is the one provided here).