Post-War Development of Housing Estates in the Sorela Style Joint with the Boom of Mining and Metallurgy in the Ostrava-Karviná Coal District and their Current Significance for Geotourism

The post-war Czechoslovakia needed to deal with a complex and urgent problem of rebuilding the destroyed industry after the Second World War. The complicated circumstances shortly after the war divided Europe into two antagonistic units. The former Czechoslovakia fell under the influence of the Soviet Union. Apart from the political and many other changes, the influence of this power also affected the style of the contemporary architecture. A new style called social realism (sorela) evolved and dominated also the culture and arts. The initial ornateness and exaggerated grandeur of the buildings gradually faded out due to economic reasons. The classical ornamental sorela is irregularly represented in many localities of the former Czechoslovakia. It takes form of discrete buildings or whole blocks. Among the most interesting and extensive units to house tens of thousands of citizens employed in mining and metallurgy, there are the buildings in Ostrava-Poruba and Haviřov. The localities are nowadays conservation zones due to their significance.