Prague, July 2 (CTK) – The Czech Republic is a country of lookout towers of various shapes, sizes and materials, offering about 400 of them, which makes it a “lookout power” similar to the neighbouring Germany, daily Pravo writes Saturday.
Only 15 lookout towers are closed at present because they badly need reconstruction, while buyers are being sought for others, the daily writes, adding that twice as many lookouts were closed four years ago.
The owners’ care for the lookouts, many of which are unique pieces of architecture, has been improving, nevertheless, and five brand-new or newly reconstructed lookouts were opened this season, it writes.
“The offer is really broad, ranging from historical towers and technical rarities to modern projects built in unusual styles,” Pavel Gejdos, deputy chairman of the Club of the friends of lookouts, is quoted as saying.
The club has over 120 members and a thousand fans who enjoy visiting lookout towers and promoting them on social networks.
Apart from the Petrin tower in Prague, which was opened in 1891 and is reminiscent of the famous Eiffel Tower, one of the most popular historical lookouts is the minaret in the UNESCO-listed Lednice chateau park, south Moravia. Built by the Liechtenstein noble family at the turn of the 18th and 19th century, it attracts over 100,000 visitors a year, Pravo writes.
The newest lookout includes that in Mikulcice, south Moravia, from which the visitors can observe the foundations of a Great Moravian hillfort as uncovered by archaeologists.
In terms of look, the very Bolt Tower appeared in Ostrava, north Moravia, last year. It combines a defunct furnace with a modern lookout extension.
Tourists also praise another new tower that is located on the Kelcsky Javornik hill in south Moravia, and the Path in Clouds project near Usti nad Orlici, east Bohemia, which is 55 metres high and offers a 750-metre lookout track, Pravo writes.
Gejdos said he and his colleagues are looking forward to see the planned new lookout tower, the highest in Moravia, which is to be built in Velenov near Boskovice.
Two towers are to be build on the Czech-Polish border on the Kralicky Sneznik and Velka Destna summits in northeast Bohemia, Pravo writes.
