Charles Bridge Medieval Gothic Tower
Climbing Charles Bridge Tower isn’t on the radar of most tourists, but it’s a fun and worthwhile experience. Views of Prague from the top are phenomenal! Yesterday, I climbed the medieval tower and saw only a handful of others along the way. The climb brought home the feelings of horror and fear likely experienced centuries ago by those sentenced to the dreaded tower!
Climbing the Tower
The climb is through a narrow, dimly-lighted, dungeon-like stone passageway. Depending on how fast you climb, it’s a mini cardio workout. On the way up the slightly claustrophobic corridor, there are stopping points with views, art, and statues. For these places, there’s a small entry fee of 100 Czech korunas (about $4). For the last few days the weather has been warm (80s), so with a moderate pace, I broke a sweat on the way up the tower.
Tower History
“The Old Town Bridge Tower is one of the world’s most beautiful Gothic gateways. Emperor Charles IV built the tower and Charles Bridge in the mid-14th century. Petr Parléř, German architect, builder, stonemason, and sculptor, designed the tower. It’s the gate to Prague Old Town displaying a victory arch that Czech kings passed through during their coronation processions.”
Mascarones
At the first stop on the way to the top, you see seven mascarones – stone faces looking down from the Tower. In architecture, “a mascarone ornament is a human face, usually frightening and designed to scare evil spirits away from buildings”.
Some ponder the reason for mascarones in Charles Bridge Tower. Was it the builder’s “whim,” or are the figures “serious symbols with deeper meaning”?
Bridge Warden
At the top, you’ll find an interesting but creepy statue. I paused to examine it and found it dark and slightly scary. It made me want to hurry down the tower and get outside!
The statue description reads:
“This strange statue probably shows a bridge warden. Having been made as late as the first half of the 15th century, it’s the tower’s most peculiar statue. The pedestal is a Roman column capital turned upside down! The figure has an undignified presence. We see a strange old man, apparently drunk and dressed in Gothic shoes and a strange cloak, with a knife and key tucked in his waist. He lifts his cloak with his left hand, perhaps to relieve himself or make an impolite gesture to all the beauty and audience below him? And what is the creature on his back putting into his head? Is it a demon-intriguer, imp, monkey, or symbol of debauchery? What’s does this figure’s presence mean? What if it’s secretly mocking all the great symbols around or those who have so arduously climbed to the top?”
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At the top, “we see an old man, drunk and dressed in Gothic shoes and a strange cloak, with a knife and key tucked in his waist”.
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