From our explorations of the Prague puzzle waymarks, we already know that the western end of Charles Bridge is marked by a pair of Lesser Town Bridge Towers. Similarly, on the eastern side, there is only one tower known as the Old Town Bridge Tower. It was constructed in the second half of the 14th century in the Gothic style.
"The tower, along with the Charles Bridge, was built by Emperor Charles IV according to designs by Petr Parlér in the mid-14 th century. The gate to the Old Town was also conceived as a symbolic victory arch through which Czech kings passed on their coronation processions. For an unforgettable view, visitors must climb 138 steps to the viewing gallery.
The tower, which is one of the most impressive works of civil Gothic in the world, was built according to a design of Petr Parlér in the 2nd half of the 14th century by the Parlér’s smelting plant by the St. Vitus temple. The construction was within the responsibility of the sculptor and builder Michael Savoyen, the son-in-law of Petr Parlér and the son of the architect of the Cologne cathedral. After him, both the house and the workshop was taken over by stonemason Petr in 1385, and he completed the tower. Apart from the main designers and sculptors, there were about a hundred of stonemasons working here.
In 1621, 12 heads of some of the leaders of the nobility rebellion decapitated at the Old Town Square (Staromestské námestí) were put on display as a warning in the upper part of the tower towards the bridge. The heads remained in place for over 10 years, then they were taken down secretly during the night and buried in place which is still unknown.
In 1648, the tower was damaged during Swedish siege on Prague, especially the side facing the bridge, which was originally decorated by statues of Madonna on a throne and the Emperor and King Charles IV and his wife Elisabeth of Pomerania. During the subsequent reconstruction, carried out by Carlo Lurago and Giovanni Spinetti in 1650 - 1653, this side was settled by a stone plate with Latin inscription to commemorate heroic fighting of the Prague citizens with the Swedes. A thorough reconstruction took place in 1854 - 78 under the management of Josef Mocker, and it was then that the tower got its present-day roof with four corner spires. Further repairs took place in the years 1952 - 1955 and 1978. During one of these minor repairs, two mysterious inscriptions were discovered coincidentally under the roof, with no spaces between the words and read the same way from the beginning to the end and backwards. Written out correctly, they look like this: Signate, signate, mere me tangis et angis; Roma, tibi subito motibus ibit amor (For your information, a sign, should you blemish me with your touch, you will be strangled; Rome to you at once with upheavals love will be sacrificed). These sentences do not make any deeper sense, but supposedly they contain magical formula of strength and power. They are the so called magical trap - magic formula to scare away evil powers. Similar inscriptions were common on the sacral buildings, namely in Italy."
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