It’s been a while since I was in Prague but despite the number of times I have visited this city, one of its best-known monuments, The Powder Tower, still impresses me.
The Powder Tower was originally the gateway to the Old Town of Prague and today an essential point of visit in the historic center. But we said that it is one of the entrance doors to the old part of Prague because there were actually 13 original doors through which the city was accessed, although of all of them, the Powder Tower is the only one that also remains standing. to be the most representative symbol of the city of Prague.
Its name is due to the fact that in the 17th century the interior of this tower was used to store gunpowder.
The Powder Tower is one of the most notable monuments of Prague’s late Gothic period, built on the site of the dilapidated original gate from the first half of the 13th century, the Mountain Gate, so named because it was located on the road that led to the population of Kutná Hora.
Curiously and contrary to the usual in the construction of the towers in the 15th century, it was built in 1475 by Benedikt Ried with no other claim than to be simply an entrance access to the city instead of having the defensive aspect as its objective. The King of that time, Ladislaus II moved with his entire court in 1485 from his habitual residence in the city to Prague Castle. This king lived the rest of his life in Prague Castle so the construction of the Tower was interrupted. Until 1836 the kings did not use the Tower again, nor the Royal Court, as a step in the coronation processions. From this date it is usual to cross the tower to go to the Cathedral of San Vito and the Castle.
In 1541 a fire left the tower practically destroyed and it was in 1592, during the management of the then mayor of Prague Krocín Drahobejle, that the building was resumed by creating a new entrance and adding a spiral staircase (in use until today). Previously, the tower was accessed only through a gallery from the Royal Court.
In 1757 the tower suffered damage due to attacks by the Prussian army and the ornamentation of the decoration had to be restored in 1817. A clock was installed on the tower in 1823.
The current appearance of the Tower dates from the period between 1875 and 1886 when it was restored and the architect Josef Mocker completed its construction in the pseudo-Gothic style in collaboration with the prominent Czech sculptors Bohuslav Schnirch and Ludvík Šimek.
On the facade of the tower you can see statues of Adam and Eve, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The emblems of the royal cities of Bohemia were carved under the battlement.
With a height of 65 meters the Torre de la Pólvora is enabled inside to be visited. At the disposal of its visitors there is an exhibition on the history of Prague and its towers. The first floor is adorned with statues of the kings of Bohemia, George de Podiebrad and Vladislav II, and on the other side to Přemysl Otakar II and Charles IV. On top of the statues of the kings there are winged angels and on the four corner columns the Czech lion with the emblem of the Old Town of Prague. At the level of the second floor there are statues of Czech saints and patrons and in its center the Christ and the Virgin with the Child.
You have to know it! The Powder Tower is beautiful on the outside and you are sure to photograph it until you get bored, but inside, impressive views of Prague await you when you reach 44 meters high, after the 186 stone steps that the spiral staircase has.
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