Petřín Lookout Tower and Lesser Town tour

in Pinmapplelast year

I've been recently talking to my Swiss friend about places that I have visited in Switzerland. She was surprised and told me that she didn't visit even half of those places which on the other hand surprised me.

However, when I think about it I'm actually like her. I used to live in Prague for 6 years, and now I know that there are many places that I didn't visit at that time. Luckily, I keep coming back to Prague, so I have the opportunities to change it.

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Petřín Lookout Tower was one of such places. I remember that I didn't even consider to go there as for me it was overrated and for tourists only. Now, I'm a tourist too, so I had no other excuses 🙂

We spent New Year's Eve in Prague and as we were lucky with spring weather, we spent a lot of time outside. My husband hasn't visited the tower either, so we decided to give it a go.

Petřín Lookout Tower is on top of a hill called Petřín. It's built at the elevation of 324 m above the sea level and it offers amazing panoramic views of Prague. There are multiple ways to get there and we decided to take the funicular from Malá Strana (also known as Lesser Town).

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When we arrived at the funicular stop Újezd we understood that other people wanted to enjoy the spring weather too. We came at 10 AM, and there were at least 200 people queuing already! It was the 1st of January and we hoped that people preferred to stay in bed longer but that was not the case.

We waited for a few minutes until we saw the funicular and then we decided to hike up the hill instead. Why did we do it? Look at how small it is. It goes every 15 minutes, so we calculated that we would have spent almost 2 hours in the queue and that was a no-go for us.

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The walk up the hill takes less than 30 minutes with elevation gain of about 130 m. There is a restaurant on the way, so you can sit outside, drink a cup of coffee and enjoy the view. That's exactly what we did. It was 18 degrees Celsius and we were in no hurry, so we enjoyed our journey.

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After about 20 minutes we reached the Medieval defense wall which was built in the 14th century. The wall is also known as The hunger wall. It was built to defense Malá Strana and the royal residence.

The legend has it that the wall was called Zubatá věž (Toothed Tower) until famine started in Prague in the 14th century. The Prague's poor were building the wall (it was their only source of income), and therefore its name was changed to The Hunger wall. Legend

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We finally reached the top of the hill! 130 m of elevation gain is not so much but it's spread over a short distance, so it can take your breath away. Don't be too excited and walk slow.

Let's have a look what we can find here...

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There are 7 gardens spread across the hill. I admit that this was not the best time to visit them as there is not much to see in the winter but now we have the motivation to come in the summer as well.

This park is called Sad Nebozízek and in summer it's admired for its flowers and herbs. I have no idea what Nebozízek is, so I am not able to translate it for you.

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There are a few statues in the complex and my favorite one is called Polibek or Kiss. It was created in 1910 from sandstone by Josef Mařatka.

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Next to the statue is a park which will lead you directly to the Petřín Lookout Tower.

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The construction of Petřín Lookout Tower was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It took about 2 years to build the tower and it was officially open to public on the 20th August of 1891. The tower is 58.7 m high and there are 299 steps to reach the observation cabin. Tower

It is said that it's an imitation of the Eiffel tower but I don't see it. There is a resemblance and I can see that it was inspired by the Eiffel tower but it's definitely not a replica (in my opinion).

To get there, we had to cross the medieval wall back to the other side.

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Just a few steps away from the tower there is a baroque Church of Saint Lawrence which dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. Its current appearance comes from the reconstruction in the 18th century. The church attracts people with its bright color and three towers, and it's a protected cultural monument. There are also regular mass celebrations. It must be a lovely place for a wedding.

The church is a place of pilgrimage with 14 stops. The last stop is located right next to the church and it's called The Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre (picture below the church, on the right side).

The Chapel on Calvary is on the left side and a few meter closer to the church.

We walked around and then walked down the hill in the opposite direction to get to a restaurant where we planned to have our lunch. We didn't climb up the tower as my hip hurt and there were way too many people, so I wouldn't be able to rest on the way as I would be blocking the way.

The path in the forest was steep and a bit slippery as there were leaves all around but the views were fantastic!

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I liked this charming street. We didn't go there as we were heading to another direction but look how cute it is.

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And again those views..

It's a place where I could come a million times and I would still be in awe of how perfect it is.

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The cathedral on the pictures is called Saint Vitus Cathedral and it's also one of those place that I haven't visited yet or at least I'm not sure if I have, so it will be the place to go next time 🙂

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This is how you see the tower from all over Prague. In the evening, it's lit up with different colored lights - at least this is how it was during our stay.

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After an easy walk down the hill we reached Malá Strana. I think that it's one of the most visited places in the city. It's like a fairy-tale, just with hundreds of cars parked along the streets which is disturbing the atmosphere a little bit.

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Imagine that you eat your meal at a terrace with such a view...

I don't need to imagine it as this is exactly how I ate my meal in my favorite restaurant 🙂

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Further down the road, on Malostranské Square, there is the most famous Baroque church called Saint Nicholas Church. My husband loves to explore churches, so it was a must to go inside. But first, let me show you the exterior as it's impressive too! Its 46 m high dome is visible from afar with its huge green cupola - simply impossible to miss.

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The construction of the church as we know it now only started in 1703. Before, there was an old Saint Nicholas church which was demolished in 1673. When you stand in front of it, you have no idea what waits for you inside.

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Let's go inside!

The church is open all day until 5 PM or 6 PM depending on the season, and the ticket costs 100 CZK which is about 4 USD. It is also used as a concert hall as well as a fully functional church with regular roman catholic masses.

I must say that I would pay much more to visit this church. It's the most beautiful church that I have ever seen - richly decorated with combination of pink and greenish marble, two stories, intricate artwork, ceiling frescoes and impressive altars. There are over 50 statues in the church!

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When designing the church, Kilian Dientzenhofer (the German architect) was inspired by the palace of Les Invalides in Paris, which was famous as the final resting place of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte I. Link

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Saint Nicholas Church is one the most treasured jewels of Prague and it's also a National Cultural monument.

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There was still Christmas decoration around the altar which was decadent and stylish. It only reinforced the monumental piece of artwork.

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There is a famous legend that the painter who was working on the frescoes only wanted his work to be seen once finished. One of the monks was curious enough to hide behind one of the pillars to watch the artist. The painter saw him and as his punishment included him in one of his frescoes as hiding behind a pillar. When the work was finished and available to everyone, the monks had a lot of fun when they discovered the fresco of one of them on the ceiling. Legend Fresco

I've tried but couldn't find it as the frescoes are too high.

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We were able to go up to the second floor of the church. This gave us a completely different view and perspective.

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After a while, we went back down and sat on a bench for some time as we couldn't get enough. On the other hand, we couldn't stay too long as it was much colder than outside! 🙂

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Once again, we had a great time in Prague and we will be back again soon!

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Thank you for reading,

Cheers!
Martina

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Jéé vy jste byli na Silvestra tady v Praze? To je škoda, že jste neřekli, my už byli to dobou zpět z Afriky, mohli jsme se sejít :) Ale fotky máš opět parádní ;) Na Petříně to mám rád, taky chodíme nahodu vždy pěšky a na ty lenochy v lanovce se jen díváme :D Ty výhledy cestou z Petřína k Hradu jsou fakt úžasné...

@tipu curate

Ano, ano, boli sme tam 5 dni. Hm, ja som bola presvedcena, ze ste v Ostrave? Tak som nechcela otravovat 🙂 Ale ak ste v Prahe, tak sa nabuduce urcite ozvem! Mozno tam budeme par dni pre Velkou Nocou...

Super, rádi vás poznáme :) Teda pokud tady ještě tou dobou budem, u nás jeden nikdy neví :D

Wow, I'm really excited, going through your post actually took me back in time and replayed the moments I spent here last December.
By the way, didn't you go up the tower?
When we visited this place the elevator didn't work so we walked up.

I'm happy to hear that it brought up some memories. No, no, we didn't go as I have hip issues and there were way too many people, so we didn't want to wait for the lift and didn't want to walk up either as I wouldn't be able to rest on the way because I would be blocking the 'traffic' 🙂

It's not that bad as we come to Prague at least once a year, so there will be other opportunities for me 🙂

Thank you for stopping by!

Beautiful pictures! I visited in December and I loved Prague. We saw Petrin Tower by night and it looked amazing! What about he hike? a lot of steps hehe.

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What do you think? Do you like the colors?

P.S. The church its simply breath taking!

So many people who visited Prague recently! Great picture! I love the colors 😍

We didn't go up due to my hip issues and enormous amount of people but we come to Prague often, so I will have another opportunities to visit 🙂

Well, yeah. I visited for the first time this year and it would be great to come again somewhere in summer. I would love to see the city in summer.

Oohh I see. You mean you didnt go up in the tower?
I meant the walk from down the city, from the bus station until up to the tower. Still I'm sorry to hear you have a hip problem. I guess it isnt so great. Is it something at the moment or its an illness you have to deal with? If its not much to ask, of course.

I like the view of St Nicolas's hat through the sky light lol And the interior of the church is amazing. I could picture sitting and gazing at ceiling forever - so many details - at least if they turned up the heat 🙂

I don't think they even have heating in this sort of churches. At least, none of them that I visited was warm. It's pleasant in the summer, not so much in the winter 🙂

Like I am living in Multan and there are many places which I have not been able to visit till now. When a person lives in a whistle, it does not occur to him that he has to move around in it, he is living in his routine. The church tower looks very beautiful. Switzerland is very historical and beautiful country one i will visit this country and watch all these beautiful places. Natural sights are very dear to the human heart. Seeing such a scenic view and eating your favorite food in such a weather will be its own fun. Overall your photography is awesome but first picture is my favorite in your photography. Thanks for sharing this great knowledge about all these places.

Thank you for taking time to comment 🙂

Prague is actually in Czech Republic. I do live in Switzerland now, but I used to live in Czech Republic 🙂

Most welcome dear.

Wow, amazing pictures and I love how nature found a symbiosis with the urban buildings and people. Historical buildings bring a snapshot into an old world.

Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad you like it 🙂

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We normally forget to be tourists in our usual places for sure! :) Been in Prague a few years ago, and remember visiting that park with a cool view over the cathedral; thanks for the memories! !BEER


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I went to this tower and hill just this summer. Definitely some great panoramic views from there. The gardens were also gorgeous in August.

Looks like many people visited Prague recently 🙂 I was there in the summer too - the last weekend of June, so we might have been there at the same time?

I visited at the start of August so not at the same time 😀