Old Town Hall, Gothic town hall in Old Town Square, Czech Republic
The Old Town Hall is a Gothic building on the Old Town Square featuring a tall tower that shapes the skyline. The structure combines several original houses that were joined together over time into one complex, with spaces for exhibitions and an observation deck at the top.
The Old Town Hall was founded in 1338 after King John of Luxembourg granted the Old Town burghers permission to buy the patrician house of the Volflin family for their council. A square stone tower, the highest in the city in the Middle Ages, was completed in 1364. Further houses were added over the centuries, and on 8 May 1945 a German shelling fire destroyed the Neo-Gothic east wing, leaving only its outer walls.
The tower's chapel, consecrated in 1366 and again in 1381, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the four Czech patron saints; statues of them stand in niches under canopies on the outer bay. The council hall in the second house, bought after 1360, keeps its Gothic wooden ceiling and is used today for wedding ceremonies.
Visitors can use stairs or an elevator to reach the observation platform, where they get a view over the square and the Old Town. It is wise to check opening times as these vary by season, and wearing comfortable shoes is recommended if you want to explore the entire building.
The astronomical clock on the tower's south wall was first fitted with its clock faces in the early 16th century, set into a late-Gothic frame. Its moving figures perform every hour, not once a year, and the whole mechanism was dismantled and repaired during the 2017–2018 restoration.
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