Tower sights in Prague
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TV Tower
Prague’s tallest landmark – and, depending on your tastes, either its ugliest or its most futuristic feature – is the 216m-tall TV Tower, erected between 1985 and 1992. It dominates the skyline from most parts of the city, and is floodlit at night in the national colours of red, white and blue. The viewing platforms, reached by high-speed lifts, have comprehensive information boards in English and French explaining what you can see; there’s also a restaurant at 66m up. But the most bizarre thing about it is the 10 giant crawling babies with coin-slots for faces that appear to be exploring the outside of the tower – an installation called Miminka (Mummy) by artis…
reviewed
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B
Old Town Bridge Tower
Perched at the eastern end of Charles Bridge, this elegant late-14th-century tower was built not only as a fortification but also as a triumphal arch marking the entrance to the Old Town. Like the bridge itself, it was designed by Peter Parler and incorporates many symbolic elements. Here, at the end of the Thirty Years’ War, an invading Swedish army was finally repulsed by a band of students and Jewish ghetto residents. On the 1st floor there’s a small exhibition and a video explaining the astronomical and astrological symbolism of Charles Bridge and the bridge tower, while the 2nd floor has a display of photographs recording the restoration of the tower’s east face, com…
reviewed
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C
Petřín Lookout Tower
The summit of Petřín is topped off with a 62m-tall Eiffel Tower lookalike built in 1891 for the Prague Exposition. You can climb its 299 steps for some of the best views in Prague – on clear days you can see the forests of Central Bohemia to the southwest. (There’s also a lift.) On the way to the tower you cross the Hunger Wall (Hladová zeď), running from Újezd to Strahov. These fortifications were built in 1362 under Charles IV, and are so named because they were built by the poor of the city in return for food –an early job-creation scheme.
reviewed
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D
Malá Strana Bridge Tower
There are actually two towers at the Malá Strana end of Charles Bridge. The lower one was originally part of the long-gone 12th-century Judith Bridge, while the taller one was built in the mid-15th century in imitation of the Staré Město tower. The taller tower is open to the public and houses an exhibit on the history of Charles Bridge, though like its Staré Město counterpart the main attraction is the view from the top.
reviewed
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E
Powder Tower
A passage to the north of St Vitus Cathedral leads to the Powder Tower (also called Mihulka), which was built at the end of the 15th century as part of the castle’s defences. Later it became the workshop of the cannon- and bell-maker Tomáš Jaroš, who cast the bells for St Vitus Cathedral. Alchemists employed by Rudolf II also worked here. Today the 1st floor houses a rather dull exhibition about the castle’s military history.
reviewed
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F
Jindřišská Tower
This Gothic bell tower, dating from the 15th century but rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 1870s, dominates the end of Jindřišská, a busy street running northeast from Wenceslas Square. Having stood idle for decades, the tower was renovated and reopened in 2002 as a tourist attraction, complete with exhibition space, shop, café and restaurant, and a lookout gallery on the 10th floor.
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