The City Tower (in
Slovak ''Mestská veža'') is one of the most important historic monuments of
Trnava
Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...
, Slovakia.
The tower's construction began on 28 July 1574. In 1666 and 1683 the tower was affected by fire and since then it has remained without a roof.
The tower has a square ground plan in the shape of a solid prism with eight floors and is 57 metres high. The tower has a scenic gallery 29 metres above ground level. The corners and the highest floor are decorated with diamond
sgraffito
(; ) is an artistic or decorative technique of scratching through a coating on a hard surface to reveal parts of another underlying coating which is in a contrasting colour. It is produced on walls by applying layers of plaster tinted in con ...
. On the south-west side is a
sundial
A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
. In the alcove above the entrance is circular relief a symbol of
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
.
On the top of the tower was originally a moon with a star emblem. This symbol was replaced by a statue of the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
sometimes between 1739–1742, but since that time it was toppled by windstorm and replaced by a life-size gilt copper statue.
In 1729 a clockwork mechanism from
Franz Langer's workshop was added to the fifth floor. The bobs weigh 300 kilograms and hang on a 30-metre rope.
In 1818 a new entrance into the tower was built above which was sgraffiti of Christ and the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
lettering: ''Nisi dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat, gui custodit eam'' ("except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain",
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
127).
The tower was reconstructed in 1938–1941 by the ''Pittel and Brausvetter'' company. The sgraffiti were covered by plaster and the statue was re-gilded in the workshop of
Peter Michaletz.
Another reconstruction took place in 1997–1998.
{{coord, 48.3778, N, 17.5853, E, source:kolossus-skwiki, display=title
Buildings and structures in Trnava
Towers in Slovakia
16th-century architecture in Slovakia