Šítkovská vodárenská vež / Šítka water tower (Prague)
N 50° 04.633 E 014° 24.822
33U E 458049 N 5547381
Massive Renaissance Šítka water tower (Šítkovská vodárenská vež), located on Vltava river embankment in Prague' historic centre, is probably the best known and the most photographed preserved historic water tower in Prague.
Waymark Code: WMNK9D
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/27/2015
Views: 55
Massive Renaissance Šítka water tower (Šítkovská vodárenská vež), located on Vltava river embankment in Prague' historic centre, is probably the best known and the most photographed preserved historic water tower in Prague.
The Šítka water tower was built in 1588-1591. The construction works were led by a Prague’s New Town townsman Karel Melnický. Documents mentioned that this waterworks supplied 3/4 of Prague' New Town with water in 1601. The waterworks was named after the miller, Jan Šítka, who owned the nearby mills. The water tower was taken out of service in 1881 and its function was taken over by a new water reservoir at Karlov. The old water-tower was saved before demolition and reconstructed several times (last reconstruction 2005-2008).
The tower has square ground plan with dimensions 10×10 m. From the inside, the tower is divided into 8 floors. The walls are made of rubble stone and are 35 metres in height. The total height of the tower is 47 m including 12 m of the onion cupola. It is slightly inclined (the difference between the top and the base is 115 cm).