Garden Pond
There is no life without water
Situated on an elevated terrace over the Chrudimka river, the gardens of the Slatiňany Chateau are made up of clay soils with low permeability and lying on marlstone bedrock. In order to maintain the new flowerbeds, a plumbing supplying them with water had to be installed.
The year 1887 saw the creation of Ferdinand’s pipeline, named after Ferdinand Prince of Auersperg (1887 – 1942), which was approximately 4,5 kilometres long and brought water from nearby lakes to a big water tower over the chateau’s gardens. Two sets of plumbing ran from the water tower – one supplied the main house, stables, the reserve garden with the orangery and other places across Slatiňany; the other one supplied the garden and the new garden pond.
The pond, complete with a boat dock and two small islands connected by bridges, was created a year after the opening of the pipeline. However, as soon as 1910, its clay lining had been failing, the pond was drained and subsequently turned into a meadow. It wasn’t until 1979 that the pond was partially restored thanks to the efforts of a heritage conservationist, Mr Dobrkovský. In 2019, the damaged waterproofing insulation foil and outlet were replaced and, based on an old photograph, a cascade was returned to the tributary. Today, the pond is fed by the Křížanovice Reservoir; the water accumulates in an extra, underground tank and is distributed, once again, by the renovated garden plumbing.