Będzin Underground

The Będzin Underground is a tourist route set up in an unfinished German air-raid shelter beneath Castle Hill. It is made available by the Basin Museum in Będzin, which lists it among its sites alongside the castle and the Mieroszewski Palace.

What the shelter was

The shelter was built in 1943-1944 to protect the German population of the town. It was cut deep into Castle Hill by prisoners of concentration camps. It was not completed. The whole complex has about 700 metres of corridors and adits.

What the route is like

The tourist route is about 400 metres long and leads through the adits and corridors of the shelter. The temperature inside stays between 9 and 12 degrees Celsius, so on a warm day you need something to put over your shoulders. The route was opened on 13 December 2013.

In February 2018 a new arrangement appeared under the name “Tropiciele Historii Podziemi Będzińskich” (History Trackers of the Będzin Underground). Today there are small exhibitions here on the beginnings of Będzin and on the German occupation during the Second World War. The place calls for a quiet tone when visiting, because it came into being through the forced labour of prisoners.

Next to Castle Hill

The Underground lies beneath Castle Hill, and Będzin Castle is about 200 metres away, so the two places are easy to combine in one visit.

Practical information

• Entrance: al. Kołłątaja, near the Church of the Holy Trinity.
• Visits are in guided groups and must be booked in advance. Check the rules, hours and reservations on the Basin Museum website before your visit.