Prague is more than just a hundred-towered
Over the centuries, Prague has acquired a number of nicknames such as Stone Prague, Golden Prague or Prague the Mother of Cities. Not only poets, but perhaps all visitors fall when looking at the unique panorama of the city of the most famous designation – Prague Hundred Towers. According to the Prague Information Service (PIS), there are 500 towers in Prague, among which there are several dozen of the most valuable historical and architectural ones. The total number of all towers, not counting the small turrets of town houses, but estimated at about a thousand.
Selected interesting facts about the towers of Prague:
* According to the PIS, the nickname Prague Hundred Towers was probably first used by the historian and writer Josef Hormayer at the beginning of the 19th century.
* The mathematician and philosopher Bernardo Bolzano first counted the Prague towers at the beginning of the 19th century. At that time, he counted 103 towers, and he did not include either waterworks or turrets of private houses.
* Currently, the PIS website states that there are 500 Prague towers. Their number can only be found out by air. A few years ago, a few experts and lovers of Prague tried to do that. Only within a radius of three kilometers from the Jindřišská Tower (about 28 km2), they counted 120 most important towers. If they included the domes and small turrets of houses and churches in the list, the number would be several times higher. The number of all Prague towers is estimated at about a thousand (excluding the turrets of town houses). It depends on the criteria what can be considered a tower and what can no longer be.
* The towers of the Prague Castle complex and many well-known churches and monasteries are particularly prominent in the city skyline. In addition to them, the historical defense towers such as the Lesser Town and Old Town Bridge Tower and the Powder Gate, which complement the ancient towers of the Old Town and the New Town Hall, are also dominant.
Water towers (Šítkovská, Malostranská, Staroměstská or Novomlýnská), but also free-standing bell towers (Jindřišská věž, Petrská zvonice) were especially important for the life of the town.
Palaces and stately town houses are mostly decorated with corner towers and turrets. There are also observation towers, such as in Klementinum. Modern industrial architecture, such as the Petřín Lookout Tower and telecommunications facilities such as the Žižkov Television Tower, also contributed to the rich list.
* The tallest tower in Prague is the Žižkov Transmitterwhich has 216 meters. At a height of 63 meters is the highest restaurant in the metropolis. St. Vitus Cathedral holds the primacy of the church towers – the main tower measures 96.5 meters and the front west tower is 82 meters high. The towers of the Týn Church on the Old Town Square are only slightly smaller, measuring 80 meters.
* The oldest are probably the Romanesque towers of the Basilica of St. George at Prague Castle from the beginning of the 12th century. The lower Lesser Town Bridge Tower, called Judith’s, is also Romanesque in its core and dates from the beginning of the second quarter of the 12th century. The remains of the Romanesque fortifications from the time of Prince Soběslav I are also represented by the Black Tower at the Castle.
* Prague has several leaning towers. The 47 km high Šítkov water tower at Mánes has the largest deviation, the deviation is 42 centimeters, some springs speak of up to 68 centimeters. Old Town Hall or the left tower of the Basilica of St. Jiří na Hradě deviate from the vertical by 40 centimeters.
* Many historic and architecturally most beautiful towers are open to the public. Tourists can enjoy the view of Prague considerably prismatic towers of the Old Town Hall (69.5 meters), completed in 1364, which later housed the astronomical clock, which this year celebrates its 600th anniversary. The richly decorated and symbolized Old Town Bridge Tower (about 47 meters; completed in 1380) is one of the most beautiful examples of Gothic architecture in Europe. The lower Lesser Town Bridge Tower, built after 1464, is 45 meters high. The late Gothic Powder Gate (65 meters) has an observation deck at a height of 44 meters.
* Some towers have changed in recent decades after reconstructions of their destination, offering restaurants and galleries such as Jindřišská bell tower (65.7 meters). Baroque bell tower of the church of St. Mikuláš on Malostranské náměstí (the accessible gallery is 65 meters high) once served as a StB observatory, as did the Šítkov Tower. Today it is used for exhibition purposes.