Žižkov Television Tower

A 216-metre communist-era tower with Cerny's crawling babies on it

Area Žižkov
Type Viewpoint
Time needed 1h

The Žižkov Television Tower is a 216-metre concrete and steel transmitter built between 1985 and 1992, the tallest structure in Prague. Three pods are clamped to its legs; the lowest holds a ticketed observation deck, with a restaurant above it and a single hotel room higher still. Since 2000 ten fibreglass babies by David Černý have been fixed to the outside of the columns, crawling up and down them.

Open in the planner →

Getting there

Take the A green line to Jiřího z Poděbrad, about eight minutes from Muzeum and roughly twenty from Staroměstské náměstí with the change. From the station the tower is in plain sight; walk five minutes east and uphill through Mahler Park, which is the remnant of an old Jewish cemetery, to the entrance at the base. Trams 5, 9, 15 and 26 stop at Lipanská in Žižkov, about eight minutes away on the other side. The final approach is a short rise and the entrance is step-free, with lifts to the pods.

What you see

The crawling babies are best seen from the ground before you go up, looking straight along the columns; a cluster of the same figures also sits on Kampa Island. The lift runs up the inside of one leg to the observation deck, where small windows set into the pod give a full circle: the castle and St Vitus on the skyline to the west, Vítkov hill and its equestrian monument close by to the north, the Vinohrady rooftops below, and the tower blocks of the eastern suburbs beyond. Interpretation panels and screens at the windows name what you are looking at, and a few of them deal with the tower's communist-era construction and the cemetery it was built over. The restaurant pod above has the same view through larger glass if you are eating.

What to pair it with

The Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord on Jiřího z Poděbrad square is on the way from the metro. Vítkov hill and the Vinohrady streets make an easy pairing, and the National Museum is a few metro stops away.

When to go

Late afternoon into dusk is the best hour, with the castle lit on one side and the suburbs coming on behind you. Clear days after rain give the longest views; in haze the far hills vanish and the deck is less worth the fare. Weekends and school holidays fill the pod, and the deck is small enough that twenty people make it feel crowded. Check opening hours before you go, as the restaurant and deck sometimes run to different ones.

What is hard about it

The admission price for the deck is high relative to what you get, which is a modest pod with narrow windows rather than an open terrace, and the glass defeats a lot of photographs. The tower stands away from the centre, so the trip is a committed half-hour each way for an hour on site. Nothing is free apart from looking at the babies from the pavement. Visitors who dislike the building's bluntness tend to find the interior equally plain, and in poor weather there is no reason to go up at all.

Common questions

How long do you need at the Žižkov Tower?

About an hour, including the lift and a full circuit of the windows. Add time if you intend to eat in the restaurant pod.

Can you see the babies without a ticket?

Yes. The sculptures are on the outside of the columns and visible free from the park and the surrounding streets.

Is this a better view than Petřín?

It is higher and takes in the eastern city, but Petřín looks straight down on the historic centre and the river, which most people prefer.