Bolt Tower - Lower Vítkovice / Dolní oblast Vítkovice (Ostrava, North Moravia) - Odd-Shaped Buildings on Waymarking.com

Unique and eccentric Bolt Tower, glass-steel structure erected on the top of historic blast furnace No. 1 in Lower Vítkovice in 2014-2015, became soon after opening one of landmarks of historic steel heart of the Czech Lands - City of Ostrava.

The Bolt Tower, work of prominent Czech architect Josef Pleskot, is the highest geographical point in Ostrava and its 78 meters can be clearly seen from the distance. It was built on top of blast furnace No. 1 at the former mining complex of Lower Vítkovice. Bolt Tower is shaped to resemble fire, recalling the time when fire raged on the site of the former steelworks. Today the area offers visitors, in addition to the look-out tower, multifunctional facilities and an excellent café. The signature on the wall is that of the person who blessed this unique structure. In 2015 Jamaican record holder, world champion and Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, who has visited Ostrava several times for the local track meet Golden Spike, did the honors.

Lower Vítkovice (Czech: Dolní oblast Vítkovice) is a national site of industrial heritage located in the Vítkovice district of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It includes an extensive industrial area Vítkovice ironworks with a unique collection of industrial architecture. A set of three successive parts - coal mine, coke ovens and blast furnace operations - also called Ostrava Hradcany after Hradcany, the Castle District of Prague. The area is registered in the list of European cultural heritage, and was placed on the Czech Republic's list of tentative UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001 under the name The Industrial Complexes at Ostrava. [wiki]