My Czech Republic Blog

Blog written by two Prague residents about life in the Czech Republic.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • myCzechRepublic.com
  • Gluten Free Prague

The New Town Hall Tower

June 26, 2019 By Dana 2 Comments

Did you know that you can climb the New Town Hall tower on Karlovo náměstí? You can get a 360-degree view of the surrounding area. The tower is open Tuesday to Sunday from spring through fall. There are 221 steps leading to the viewing area. You can also visit the tiny quarters where the tower watchman used to live. His task was to watch for any fires in the city and sound a warning bell in case a fire was spotted. The rooms are not preserved in the original condition but house a permanent exhibition on the history of the New Town.

Here are some views from the tower:

While visiting the tower or even if you’re just passing by, stop by the eastern facade and look for a metal rod attached to the wall. This is the standard measurement for the Czech or rather Prague cubit. It is called loket in Czech, which means “elbow”. The loket was a measuring unit introduced by Czech king Přemysl Otakar II in 1268. It is 59.3 cm long and is supposed to represent the distance from the elbow to the fingertips. The metal rod was placed on the wall of the New Town Hall in 1760. Merchants used it as an exact measurement guide until the 19th century.

Filed Under: History, Prague

Comments

  1. JohannaW says

    February 20, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    Do you happen to know if there is a significance to the 221 steps leading to the viewing area?

  2. mysterybox says

    October 23, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    Jednou se rozhodnu přestěhovat do České republiky.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Posts

Categories

  • Art & Culture
  • Audio
  • Czech Republic
  • Czechs Abroad
  • Film & Theatre
  • Food & Drink
  • History
  • Holidays & Traditions
  • Language
  • Music
  • News
  • Observations
  • Photos
  • Prague
  • Shopping & Service
  • Sports & Activities
  • Television
  • Travel
  • Weather

Blogroll

  • Grant’s Prague Bike Blog
  • Honest Blog
  • The Czechmate Diary
  • TresBohemes

Copyright © 2025 Local Lingo s.r.o. · Privacy Policy · Log in