Butter Tower
OPENING HOURS
April, October:
Saturday and Sunday, State Holiday: 10:00 – 16:00
May, June, September:
Monday: closed
Tuesday - Sunday, State Holiday: 9:00 – 16:00
July, August:
daily: 9:00 – 17:00
November – March:
closed
ADMISSION
CZK 50
More information about the Butter Tower here:
Basic information
Tower diameter – circa 10 m (between outside walls of the wider foundation)
Tower height – circa 53 m (incl. the height of the current copper lightning conductor)
The outside wall thickness – 1 m with supporting pillars up to 2 m
Height of the tower peristyle – 25 m above the ground
Number of the stairs – 146 steps
Tower clock – two clock faces/dials of 1.5 m in diameter, two bells 66 kg and 45 kg
The Butter Tower is one of the dominants of Nové Město historical centre. It is one of the preserved original fortification bastions from the time of the gothic castle founded by Jan Cerncicky of Kacov. Its name derives from the tower silhouette which resembles a butter churn, a vessel for butter making. The tower received such design during the reconstruction of 1548 – 1621. However, the completion was done in 1656 when Walter of Leslie started the Baroque style reconstruction of the castle. The same year, the tower was consecrated. Today′s look comes from the times of 1909 -1912 renovations by Barton family. The architect Dusan Jurkovic designed a modernized peristyle – wooden construction was exchanged for a reinforced concrete support.
In 2014, plastering and tinsmithing was repaired. Total expense of this project came close to 2 million CZK, 15% of the project were financially supported by Kralovehradecky region. Photographs of the finishings from November 2014 are shown in Nachodsky denik here:
