The Secrets of
Plzeň

Where Gothic Spires Meet the Golden Lager That Changed the World

In 1295, King Wenceslaus II planted a new city at the confluence of four rivers. Within decades it became Bohemia's third-largest city, a crossroads of trade between Prague and Nuremberg.

But Plzeň's real revolution came in 1842, when a Bavarian brewer named Josef Groll poured the world's first golden lager — and accidentally invented a beer style that now accounts for two-thirds of all beer consumed on Earth.

Beneath the cobblestones lies a 15-kilometre labyrinth of medieval cellars. Above ground, the tallest church spire in Bohemia pierces the sky. This is a city of inventors, rebels, and brewmasters — and its secrets are hiding in plain sight.