Petřín Lookout Tower

Look up at that steel tower rising 63 meters above you. Five times smaller than the Eiffel Tower. Same shape, same style. That's no accident. In 1889, members of the Czech Tourist Club traveled to Paris for the World Exhibition. They climbed the Eiffel Tower, took in the view, and thought: why doesn't this city have one? They came home and made it happen. They formed a Society for Building the View Tower, raised funds, secured land from the magistrate, and got to work. Construction started in March 1891. By the time the Jubilee Exhibition opened that year, the tower was complete. Four months from ground to observation deck. They used 175 tons of iron and built it with an octagonal cross section, not square like the Eiffel Tower. But here's what makes it clever: because Petřín Hill sits 324 meters above sea level, the observation platform at the top is at the exact same altitude as the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You'll climb 299 steps to get up there. For decades, that was the only option. In 1953, they installed a TV transmitter and ripped out the elevator to make room for cables. Visitors had to use their legs until 2002, when a new lift was finally added.