Mint Master’s Cellar

The Mint Master’s Cellar (in Czech: Mincmistrovský sklep or Sklepení domu mincmistrů) refers to historical basements discovered during the survey of the Brno underground in 1999. In 2007 the basement that was formerly located underneath the townhouse owned by mint master Bruno and, later, burgher Mikuláš od Věže, was opened to the public. Three years later renovated cellars of the New City Hall were connected to it.

The result is a unique network of cellars where, in 2010, exhibitions and installations were introduced within the project “Zpřístupnění brněnského podzemí”. The exhibition serves as a reminder of coin minting, a nearly forgotten craft which used to be very important in medieval Brno and Moravia.

Furthermore, it is also a lesson in the historical development of this site from medieval times to present day. The development of Rybný trh (Forum piscium, “fish market”), i.e. the present day Dominikánské náměstí, is explained, as is the existence and eventual demise of the Gothic Royal chapel which was located at the bottom of the square even in the early 20th century. Since the underground network is partly located underneath the present-day New City Hall (i.e. the seat of the modern metropolitan city’s administration), the exhibition is also used for audiovisual presentations of the history and present of the statutory city of Brno.