Velký Kosíř, Observation tower in Slatinky, Czech Republic

Velký Kosíř is a wooden lattice observation tower on a round stone base, reinforced with steel elements, standing on the summit of the same name about 9 km west of Prostějov. A covered staircase spirals around the truncated-cone structure to a roofed circular viewing platform 25 m up. Architect Svatopluk Sládeček designed it; it opened in 2013 and was closed again in 2023.

A wooden lookout tower stood on Velký Kosíř from 1927 until 1939, when its 26-metre frame was dismantled for poor condition. Construction of the present tower began on 12 October 2012 and it opened on 22 June 2013, costing 6.5 million crowns, of which the Olomouc Region gave 3 million and donors and neighbouring villages the rest.

The name Velký Kosíř refers to the whole hill; the lookout on top is simply called rozhledna Velký Kosíř. A yellow KČT hiking route from the Slatinice railway station passes the spa grounds and the memorial to four airmen killed in a 1998 helicopter crash before reaching the tower. Two marked nature trails, Velký Kosíř and Velký Kosíř II, largely follow the same yellow route.

The tower has been closed since autumn 2023 for safety reasons and was still out of service as of May 2025, so check its status before setting out. A yellow KČT trail reaches the summit from the Slatinice railway station, passing the spa grounds and the memorial to four airmen killed in a 1998 helicopter crash. Two marked nature trails also circle the hill.

The tower's author is architect Svatopluk Sládeček, who set a wooden lattice cone braced with steel on a round stone base, with a covered staircase spiralling around it. The viewing platform sits 25 metres up. A change from conifers to lower broadleaf trees around the summit widened the outlook.