The largest visitor-accessible section of the Riese complex in the Owl Mountains, with about 3200 metres of corridors, an underground cinema and a boat crossing.
The Riese Włodarz underground complex is part of the German Riese project, the code name for the largest mining and construction undertaking of Nazi Germany in 1943-1945. Włodarz, located in the Owl Mountains in the Głuszyca municipality, is today the largest section of the whole Riese complex open to visitors.
Work on the Riese project began in response to intensifying Allied air raids, which forced Germany to move part of its strategic production to the safer Sudetes region. A dense network of corridors crossing at right angles was built at Włodarz, with four entrances and one of the largest unfinished halls in the whole complex. Massive foundations began to be raised above ground, but construction was never completed.
The complex today comprises about 3200 metres of corridors with a total volume of 42,000 cubic metres. About one eighth of the underground spaces is flooded with water, which is used on part of the tourist route.
Tours of Włodarz take place only with a guide and begin on the hour, lasting about an hour. The route includes two levels of exploration, an underground cinema with a film about the site's history, and a boat crossing through the flooded corridors. Underground the temperature is around 7 degrees Celsius and humidity reaches 95 percent, and the terrain is uneven and muddy in places, so visitors must have warm clothing and waterproof footwear. Protective helmets are compulsory on the route, and dogs may not be taken underground.
Włodarz neighbours other accessible sections of the same complex, including Osówka, and above ground it is worth climbing the nearby peaks of Mała Sowa and Wielka Sowa, from which a view opens over the whole Owl Mountains Landscape Park.
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