Mug Shot — «Ostrava - New City Hall»

City: Ostrava Country: Czech Republic Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 465 users (34 trading, 125 seeking)

Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Ostrava is located at the confluence of the Ostravice, Oder, Lučina and Opava rivers. Its history and growth have been largely affected by exploitation and further use of the high quality black coal deposits discovered in the locality, giving the town a look of an industrial city and a nickname of the “steel heart of the republic” during the communist era of Czechoslovakia. Many of the heavy industry companies are being closed down or transformed, yet the city remains one of the most polluted in the EU.

The New City Hall is the most famous building in Ostrava and the largest town hall complex in the Czech Republic. The large two-wing building with a central part and an observation tower was built in 1925 to 1930. One of the main reasons of the New City Hall construction was the preparation for the establishment of districts and the creation of the so-called Greater Ostrava by merging with the neighbouring Moravian municipalities. The tower is 85.6 metres high and the observation deck, which is accessible to the public, is at a height of 73 m; the tower clock weighs more than half a ton, the clock-face has a diameter of 350 cm and the hands are 175 cm long; the clockwork has now been replaced by modern technology, allowing beating hours regularly. The express lift in the tower in its heyday was the highest in the country (51 m). The square where the building of the New City Hall is situated is called Prokeš Square. Since 1999, its dominant feature has been a statue of Icarus by the sculptor František Štork. Icarus weighs 7 tons and is the third largest bronze sculpture in the Czech Republic. The statue is supposed to symbolise, according to a legend, Ostrava’s takeoffs and falls. The observation tower is open to the public all year round and is one of the main tourist attractions of Ostrava. The tower is visited by up to 45 thousand visitors annually.

photo by argicgr
edited by ACHmaxima and mobydick74

  Czech Republic, Ostrava, MIC

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