Rozsnyó Fire Tower, also known as Rákóczi Watchtower
Building, structure
The regular, rectangular main square of Rozsnyó, a rich mining town of medieval origin, inhabited by German settlers, is the largest medieval square in the Uplands. In the middle of it stands the 36.5 m high Fire Tower, also known as the Rákóczi Watchtower. ; The slender, tall stone tower, supported by buttresses at its corners, was built between 1643 and 1654 (based on the designs of György Gerscheuer and Dániel Mosszen). It originally belonged to the town hall, but this building no longer stands today. The tower played an important defensive role in the battles against the Turks. ; The tower was built in the late Renaissance style, and its upper part originally had partisan decoration. It was damaged in a fire in 1766, after which it received the Baroque-style bell-shaped roof helmet that can still be seen today. The city's first public clock was also placed in the tower. Watchmaker Márton Szontágh made what was supposedly the most accurate timepiece in Hungary of his time. According to legend, the city government cut out the master's tongue so that he could not reveal the secret of the clock's mechanism. ; On the topmost tower level, there is a columned wooden gallery, where the fire watchmen, who gave the tower its name, also stayed. Since the restoration in 1997, the tower has been open to visitors as a lookout tower. You have to climb 148 steps to reach the top of the building, but in return you can see the entire city from above.