City tunnels tourist route in Kłodzko, Underground tourist route beneath the old town of Kłodzko, Poland

The City Tunnels Tourist Route in Kłodzko is a 700-metre underground route beneath the old town, opened in 1976. It runs under Plac Kościelny and the streets Kościelna, Armii Krajowej, Tumska and Czeska, linking rebuilt cellar rooms that hold exhibits on the city's history and daily life, among them apothecary vessels, executioner's tools, a laundry, a baker's oven, an inn and a merchant's exchange.

Deep cellars, often on two levels, were dug beneath Kłodzko's old town from the Middle Ages to store food and shelter residents during invasions. The soft loess subsoil cellars were maintained by the Germans until the war, then neglected. In the 1950s and 1960s collapses damaged about 200 buildings along Czeska, Armii Krajowej, Łukasińskiego and Niska streets and Chrobry square. From 1962 to 1976, a team led by Prof. Zbigniew Strzelecki of Kraków's AGH secured the workings, and part opened to visitors in 1976.

The cellars were dug from the Middle Ages in the soft loess ground, often on two levels, and served as food stores and as shelter during foreign invasions. Today the rebuilt cellar rooms hold exhibits on the town's history and everyday life: apothecary vessels, executioner's tools, a laundry, a baker's oven, a tavern and a merchant's exchange. Speakers play sounds of the old town, from market bustle to tavern revelry and battle, and projectors cast animations of rats that react to passers-by.

The route entrance is located near the parish church and can be reached from Zawiszy Czarnego street. The walk through lasts roughly 15 minutes and leads toward the direction of Kłodzko Fortress, allowing visitors to combine both sites.

The route's sound system plays recordings of an old market fair, burgher music, tavern revelers and a battle, while projectors cast animations of rats that react to visitors' movements. The cellars were dug in loess, a soft subsoil that made deep two-level basements easy to excavate.