Stara Orunia Reservoir, Water reservoir in Orunia district, Gdańsk, Poland.
Stara Orunia Reservoir is a square brick structure with 40-metre sides, built partly underground on the Orunia hills above the Radunia Canal. Inside, 11 bays rest on the arches of 8 arcades, each arch spanning 4 m, with a chamber height of up to 5 m, a total area of 1496 m² and a capacity of 5700 m³. The bricks came from a brickyard in Kolibki; of the original fittings only the pipe ends remain.
This structure was built in 1869 to meet the city's growing need for clean water supply. It was part of a larger project that transported water from distant sources into the urban area.
The reservoir is a stop on the Gdańsk Waterworks Trail (Gdański Szlak Wodociągowy), which opens historic water-supply structures to visitors. Its bricks came from the brickyard at Kolibice, and the surviving pipe ends are all that remain of the original fittings. The nearby viewpoint XII "Jerzy" honours Jerzy Samp, a historian and populariser of the Orunia area.
Visits are possible only with a guide and only during a few months a year, outside the bats' hibernation period. The reservoir lies between Raduńska and Kampinoska streets, above the Radunia Canal, near Oruński Park. The chamber floor is flooded, so the tour route runs on purpose-built footbridges. Beside the reservoir is the viewpoint XII "Jerzy", named after historian Jerzy Samp.
The underground chambers now shelter several bat species and function as one of the region's major winter habitats. Conservation groups regularly monitor the populations of these flying mammals.
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