Petrínská rozhledna
Encyclopedia
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, which strongly resembles the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
. Although it is much shorter than the Eiffel Tower, it stands atop a sizable hill, Petřín
Petrín
Petřín is a hill in the center of Prague, Czech Republic. It rises some 130 m above the left bank of the Vltava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with parks, is a favorite recreational area for the inhabitants of Prague...
, so the top is actually at a higher altitude than that of the Eiffel Tower. The Petřínská rozhledna was built in 1891 and was used as an observation tower as well as a transmission tower. Today the Petřínská rozhledna is a major tourist attraction. If you go up the hard way, the hill is roughly a half-hour walk up paths that get quite slippery when it snows, and the tower is a shorter but fairly tiring climb; however, the hill is served by a frequent funicular
Petrín funicular
The Petřín funicular is a funicular railway in the Czech capital city of Prague. It links the Malá Strana district with the top of Petřín hill. The funicular has three stops: Újezd , Nebozízek and Petřín...
and the tower has an elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
for disabled persons.
On clear days, the tower offers a good view of the Prague skyline.
It is open from 10am to 7-10pm every day from April to October and only at weekends from November to March, from 10am to 5pm. There is a gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
and a small cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
on the main level. On the lowest level is a small museum of Jára Cimrman
Jára Cimrman
Jára Cimrman or Jára da Cimrman is a Czech fictional character created by Jiří Šebánek, Ladislav Smoljak and Zdeněk Svěrák. He is presented as one of the greatest Czech playwrights, poets, composers, teachers, travellers, philosophers, inventors, detectives, mathematicians and sportsmen of the...
.
Petrinska rozhledna versus Eiffel Tower
Petřínská rozhledna is often described as small version of the Eiffel Tower. This is however not correct, because in contrast to the Eiffel TowerEiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
, Petřínská rozhledna has an octagonal and not a square cross section over its whole height. Further, it does not stand, as does the Eiffel Tower, on four columns of lattice steel. However in contrast to both towers the whole area under its legs is covered with the entrance hall.
A similarity between the Eiffel Tower and Petřínská rozhledna is the design of the lowest cross beams in the form of round bows.
The two observation platforms are accessible via lifts and stairs, with 299 stairs in sections of 13 per stage running around the inside of the structuring. A nominal entrance fee of 100 CZK (4 euros) and 50 CZK for students and senior citizens over 65 is payable at the kiosk at the foot of the tower to access the observation platforms.
History
In 1889, members of The Club of Czech Tourists visited world exposition in Paris and were inspired by the Eiffel Tower. Later, they collected a sufficient amount of money and in March, 1891 the building of the tower started for the General Land Centennial Exhibition (1891)General Land Centennial Exhibition (1891)
The General Land Centennial Exhibition was a World's fair held in 1891 in Prague, then in the Austria–Hungarian Empire.Many buildings were erected for this exposition, including the Průmyslový palace .-Summary:...
. It was finished in only 4 months.
In 1953 on Petřínská rozhledna a TV broadcasting antenna was installed, whereby the program feed was performed by a directional radio antenna. This served as Prague's main TV signal provider until the opening of the Žižkov Television Tower
Žižkov Television Tower
The Žižkov Television Tower is a unique transmitter tower built in Prague between 1985 and 1992. Designed by architect Václav Aulický and structural engineer Jiří Kozák, it stands high above the city's traditional skyline from its position on top of a hill in the district of Žižkov, from which it...
in late 1992. In 1999, the tower was completely renovated.
External links
- Petřínská rozhledna
- http://www.rozhlednyunas.cz/rozhledny/petrinska-rozhledna-v-praze/
- http://www.pis.cz/cz/praha/adresar/petrinska_rozhledna
- http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b41048
- History of Petrinska rozhledna
- Petrin Lookout 360° Virtual Panorama