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Lesser Town Bridge Towers

The Lesser Town Bridge Towers (Malostranské mostecké věže) are two towers linked by a gate at the western, Lesser Town end of Charles Bridge. They form the entrance from the bridge into Mostecká Street and the Lesser Town.[1] The Royal Route passes through them.[2]*

Judith Tower

The lower, southern tower is Romanesque and probably dates from the 12th century. It is the most visible remnant of Judith Bridge.[3][1] It has three storeys and is built of small blocks of marlstone. In 1591 it received Renaissance gables and sgraffito plaster.[3][4] It is 29.3 m high.[3] Inside, a marlstone relief has survived showing a figure seated on a throne and a kneeling man. The interpretation of its subject is disputed.[3][1] In 1927 the Club for Old Prague, founded in 1900, obtained rooms in the tower and is still based there.[3] The tower has been owned by the city since 1893 and is not open to the public.[1]

Lesser Town Bridge Tower

The taller, northern tower was founded on 24 May 1464 in the reign of King George of Poděbrady on the site of an older Romanesque tower.[3][5] Its appearance follows the Old Town Bridge Tower. The niches on its facade remained without statues.[3][5] In 1874–1879 the tower was repaired by the architect Josef Mocker.[1] The tower is 43.5 m high to the top of the roof, and its gallery is at 26 m.[3][1] The tower is opened to the public by Prague City Tourism.[1]

Gate

The gate between the towers was built after 1411 on the site of an older structure. It is topped with battlements and decorated with the coats of arms of the lands of King Wenceslas IV and of the Old Town and the Lesser Town.[1][5] The Heritage Catalogue of the National Heritage Institute lists the towers as part of the national cultural monument Charles Bridge with its sculptural decoration.[4]

Sources

  1. Prague City Tourism (prague.eu)
  2. Národní památkový ústav (Památkový katalog)
  3. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)
  4. Národní památkový ústav (Památkový katalog)
  5. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)

* The sources are collected and the preliminary text of this entry is drafted with artificial intelligence, on the instruction of the editorial staff; the entry has not yet been verified by an editor — report a mistake.