Powder Tower

The Powder Tower is another of the unmissable tourist hotspots in Prague. Although there are numerous different towers in Prague (in fact, the city is known as "the City of 100 Towers"), this is one of the most famous.

This is one of the many access routes that Prague had in its origins of the Old Town, so it's for this reason that it is also known as the "Powder Gate". Dating back to the fifteenth century, the tower is of a Gothic style and is dark in colour, which is a trademark of the majority of the towers in Prague. Two centuries after its construction, it began to be used as a powder storage tower, which is where its name came from, and I guess that this is also how it darkened in colour. It has been restored on several occasions, due to its sheer age and especially thanks to the battles and wars that have taken place in Prague, which ultimately caused damage to the tower.

It's more than possible that you will confuse this tower with some of the others in the city just like I did! It turns out that the person who designed this tower was inspired by one of the towers that sits on the Charles Bridge.

The Powder Tower is joined to the Municipal House by a little covered bridge, which really contrasts with the tower for its light and bright colour.

You can walk through the tower, as it has a little arch-shaped walkway for pedestrians in its central part. Besides, you can also go inside it, where you will find a little exhibition about the history of Prague, as well as having one of the best views of the city from the upper part of the tower. To get to the top, you have to take the stairs.

The standard admission fee to the tower is 90 Kč, and 60 Kč for reduced entry (which is approximately around €2 to €3). Anyway, if you decide to go in just for the views and not to see the exhibition itself, it's somewhat cheaper than doing so at other towers in Prague, and it has an elevator too!

The opening hours are as follows: Monday to Sunday, from 9am to 6pm in winter, and from 9am to 10pm in summer.

It is not at all difficult to get to the Powder Tower, but it may be slightly harder than finding other monuments because it's situated on a regular street and is not surrounded by other tourism hotspots. It is close to the Old Town Square, and you can easily get to it by taking either the metro or the tram. The closest stop is called "Namesti Republiky", served by line B of the metro and tram lines 5, 8, 14 and 26.