As part of the Plzen Capital of Culture 2015 project, a meeting place for culture and creativity was created on the site of a tram depot. Events take place here regularly and the site is definitely worth a visit.
From the historic city centre, it is a longer walk until you reach the site, which is steeped in history. In 1869, a sugar factory was built there. At the end of the 19th century, Plzen’s tramway used the site as a tram depot. Soon the site was no longer sufficient and was supplemented by further parking spaces and a large workshop building. In 2014, the use by the transport company ended. The buses, trolleybuses and trams gradually left the site, leaving behind large halls and empty parking spaces.
The DEPO2015 creative zone opened in April 2015 and various events are still held on the grounds today. In addition, there are areas for high-tech start-ups and creative workshops.
Tour of the DEPO2015 site
We enter the DEPO2015 grounds via the entrance to the car park. To one side is a large car park, which is well used, especially during the numerous events on site. We continue walking in the opposite direction and arrive at a large open space.
Planted car wrecks green the concrete area. On one side there are numerous beds with vegetable and herb plantings, with a few works of art in between.
From there we enter the huge hall. Here there are some separate areas where artists’ workshops are housed. Some smaller areas are used by offices of start-up companies. There are some small pop-up shops, coworking space and a café.
In the café we first got something to drink and then made ourselves comfortable in the sun in the courtyard. There is also a rusty-looking tower there, which we of course looked at more closely.
In the tower, a spiral staircase leads upwards, which we climbed. A little tip: If you don’t tolerate heights well, it’s better not to climb high. The entire construction swayed several centimetres in all directions. From the top, you can look out over the grounds.
I found the visit to DEPO2015 interesting, but if I were to visit again, I would pay attention to whether there is an event taking place there. There are regular food truck days, concerts or art events that definitely make the site even more interesting.
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