KRZYSZTOF MAKSYMOWICZ
Underground Cathedral

Water tanks on Stoki - underground drinking water tanks, located in the Stoki estate in Łódź. Due to the design and beauty, the cathedral tanks are "underground"
The tanks were designed in the years 1901–1909 by an English engineer, William Heerlein Lindley, who had previously developed a sewage system plan for e.g. Warsaw, Prague and Baku. He proposed to build a set of reservoirs in one of the higher points of the city (260 m above sea level), which would naturally function as a water tower and distribute water around the city by gravity . Due to high investment costs, the first two tanks, each with a capacity of 15,000 m³, were not built until 1935–1937. Two more were built after the war, in 1949–1953
The tanks are built on a square plan with a side of 60 m. The vault of each tank is supported by 81 columns, creating 100 domes. The ceilings, walls and the base of the tanks are arched in order to better transfer the pressure of the water contained in them.

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