Significantly dominating features of many parts of Prague are the former water-towers. We can only be glad that our ancestors preserved these towers even after they lost their purpose. These towers are indeed the grace of the city. Above all they are also significant technical monuments and orientation view points of Prague.
One of such water-towers is situated at Korunovační Street at Letná. The tower was built in pseudo-Romanesque style by the design of Jindřich Fialka. The construction works were carried out by the Karel Hübschmann and František Schlaffer Company based on an order from the Prague’s municipality. The tower was completed in 1888. The inner part of the tower contained a cylinder tank with a capacity of 197.10m3. The water-supply complex, of which the tower was a part, supplied with water the upper part of Holešovice and Bubeneč. The technologycal equipment of this complex was provided by Breifeld-Daňek and Co. In comparison with other water-towers of historical Prague the tower’s “productive era” was very short. The tower was discontinued in 1913 and the premises were adapted into flats for the employees of the water-supply company.
The tower, which is in total 38.3m in height, is crowned with a pyramidal roof. The top part of the tower features a column extension with a tower-clock. On the fifth floor, at a height of 20.5m, we can observe the surrounding area from the gallery. The gallery which features a neo-renaissance arcade is supported with stone cantilevers. Later some parts of the tower were used as a store but since 1978 the reconstructed building has been used by the district organization of “pioneers and youth” of Prague 7. Young people still use these historical premises today.
