Žižkov TV Tower

Take a look at that structure piercing into the sky. Three massive concrete pillars support nine pods along its length, reaching 216 meters high. It looks like a rocket ready for launch. Construction started in 1985. The communist government wanted it to improve broadcast signals and jam Western television from reaching homes across the country. Architect Václav Aulický and engineer Jiří Kozák designed something straight out of science fiction. The timing was spectacularly bad. Workers finished the tower in 1992, one year after the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule. It never jammed a single Western broadcast. Instead of controlling information, it transmitted freedom. The location sparked outrage that locals couldn't voice at the time. You're standing where a Jewish cemetery once existed, established in 1680 with around 40,000 people buried here. During construction, heavy equipment crushed tombstones and carried bones away to landfill. Some of those tombstones now pave a nearby street. In 2000, artist David Černý added 10 giant babies crawling up the pillars. Look closely at their faces. They have barcodes instead of human features. His statement on dehumanization turned the tower from mockery into curiosity. The sculptures were replaced with identical copies in 2019 after wind damage.