Sitka Water Tower

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Description

Sitka Water Tower is located on the right bank of the river Vltava at the southern end of Slovanský Island in close proximity to the Manes Artists Building.

The tower is 47 meters (approx. 155 feet) tall, and is a square 10 meters on a side. It is slightly skewed from its vertical axis by about 42 centimeters (16 inches).

The building dates from the late 15th century, and between 1488 and 1495 was originally a wooden water tower. This tower was destroyed, along with the nearby Sitka mills, by fire in 1588. Between 1588 and 1591 the black stone tower that stands on the site today was completed.

In 1882, after the tower had ceased to function as a working water tower, it was scheduled for demolition. Intervention by the Society Arts Forum, however, saved the tower, and it stands to this day.

After the 1989 Velvet Revolution, there were rumors that the tower had been used as an observation post by the Czech Secret Police to spy on well-known dissident (and later Czech President) Vaclav Havel, who lived across the street from the tower.