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The lookout tower was built as part of the Territorial Jubilee Exhibition of 1891 at the initiative of the founders of the Czech Ramblers’ Association [Klub českých turistů], Dr Wilhelm Kurz and architect Vratislav Pasovský, and is a loose copy of the Eiffel Tower (on a one-fifth scale). It stands 63.5m high and 299 steps lead to the top. →
The Petřín Mirror Maze was originally built as a pavilion of the Czech Ramblers’ Association [Klub českých turistů] at the 1891 Territorial Jubilee Exhibition in Prague. It was built by Prague master carpenter Matěj Bílek to the architectural design of Antonín Wiehl. His inspiration for the building was probably the Vienna Prater mirror maze. →
The Baroque bell-tower, which also served as a fire alarm and clock tower, was built together with the Church of St Nicholas. The building, which replaced the earlier Gothic town bell-tower, was designed and built by the influential architect Kilián lgnác Dientzenhofer. His pupil and son-in-law Anselmo Lurago only modified a portion of the interiors. The tower was built in 1739. It was not fully completed until 1755. →
The taller of the two Charles Bridge towers, standing on the Lesser Town bank of the Vltava River, is the most recent part of the complex. It was built after 1464 at the expense of Czech King George of Poděbrady, replacing an older Romanesque tower, which had been built together with a shorter one, the Judith Tower. It follows the look of the older Old Town Bridge Tower at the opposite end of Charles Bridge. →
The Old Town Bridge Tower is one of the most noteworthy Gothic buildings in the world. The tower was commissioned to be built by Emperor Charles IV to a design by Master Ota (after his death, Michael Savoský continued his work, and after him, Peter Parler). The gate connecting with the Old Town of Prague was also conceived as a symbolic arc de triomphe through which Czech Kings passed on their coronation journey through the city, to St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. →
The route through part of the former Jesuit college will take you to the Baroque Library, the most beautiful of the Clementinum’s halls, the Meridian Hall with period astronomical instruments and the Astronomical Tower, the longest continuously-measuring meteorological station in the Czech lands. The Clementinum complex is the second largest building complex in Prague after the Prague Castle. →
The Powder Gate Tower was built on the site of the former Old Town fortifications moat. It was built to replace the dilapidated previous gate tower, called the Horská (for it marked the start of the royal road to the treasury city of the kingdom – Kutná Hora). When Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague, encircled by a new perimeter wall, the Old Town councillors stopped taking care of their own town’s fortifications. →
The historic water tower is located on the right bank of the Vltava River on the site of the former New Mills [Nové mlýny]. The tower is deemed to be Prague’s earliest lookout tower, thanks to the observation room on the top floor. At present, the Baroque tower hosts a permanent exposition dedicated to fires that afflicted Prague over the centuries and in more recent times. →