St. Martin’s Tower is the landmark of the Bregenz. It offers exhibitions and a picturesque, beautiful panorama over Bregenz, the Swiss mountains and Lake Constance.
A warehouse from the time of the city’s foundation c. 1250 originally stood there, which was barely higher than the city wall. The warehouse had a basement, a ground floor higher up and an upper floor. As early as the first half of the 14th century, there was a small chapel room in the upper floor that was separated with wooden walls. In 1362, Count Wilhelm III of Montfort founded St. Martin’s Chapel, which, in the subsequent years, was furnished with magnificent frescos and expanded across the entire upper floor. In the late 15th century, the previously secularly used ground floor was integrated into the chapel room, with the ceiling being torn out, making the room approximately twice as high.
From 1599 to 1601, master builder Benedetto Prato from Roveredo, Grisons, elevated the existing building at the behest of the city. The former warehouse became a tower, on which Prato set a huge wooden dome – a wooden dome that makes St. Martin’s Tower the first characteristic baroque structure in the Lake Constance region. St. Martin’s Tower was the new watchtower of Bregenz. For centuries, the watch performed his service there, whose job it was to warn the city, particularly in the face of fire.
References:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.