I may be weird, but one of my favourite things about exploring a place is climbing to the highest vantage point to see what is around me. So many cities now have observation towers: TV towers, revolving restaurants, skyscrapers with public viewing areas; you get the picture. An elevator whisks you up several hundred feet in a matter of seconds, and you step out to be high above the city and able to enjoy the view.
Kalyan Minaret, Bukhara - the scene of many grisly deaths
But these are not the ones I love to visit. I take greatest pleasure from those old historic towers, whether on a church, a town hall or free-standing, that require a physical climb, often up very narrow and dark staircases. These not only provide a feeling of achievement at reaching the top, but often allow the imagination to drift back to the original purpose of the tower, and the lives and memories of those who first climbed it. Here are a few of my favourites:
Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. This scores highly on two counts. Firstly, it has a fascinating if gruesome history as a place from which many people were thrown to their deaths on the orders of the cruel despotic Emir of Bukhara during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is also an experience to climb, and would give a British health and safety official a heart attack.
View from minaret
There are no controls on the number of people allowed into the minaret, and when we visited there were far too many people at the top to get a look. We had to wait for people to descend, but because the stairwell is so narrow and pitch dark apart from the tiny apertures that you can see, passing was a dangerous operation.
It was well worth the effort however, and here’s just one view from the top of the nearby madrassa.
There are many great towers in European churches. In many cities the main church or cathedral contains a bell-tower where the ringing of the bells was used as a news service in Medieval times. Morning and evening the bells would mark the end and start of the night curfew, where no-one was allowed to enter the city after a certain hour. Climbing these towers now is often an activity more reserved for tourists, as they can capture a great view of the city. On a recent trip to the Estonian capital Tallinn, we made our way up the tower of St Olaf’s Church: once the world’s tallest structure and built entirely by one man, according to legend.
St Olaf's Church
A great antidote to the numerous cafes and cake shops of the city, a quick climb up the several hundred steps and you are ready to indulge again!
View from the church tower
The third tower to mention is one close to home. Living in the shadow of St Albans Abbey, one of England’s earliest and most impressive churches, we didn’t want to miss out when the abbey curators opened the tower up for a few visitors on a rare open day. We were in a group of 10 who were able to climb to the top of our ‘neighbour’. It was wonderful to learn so much of the history about this remarkable building, and better still we were able to get a view of our home that we would never have otherwise had.
View from St Albans Abbey
View of home from St Albans Abbey
View to city centre from St Albans Abbey
St Albans Abbey
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I love these types of towers as well but – big problem for me – I find it impossible to climb without counting steps – both up and down!
Ooo, yes. This is especially cool with teens and tweens. We’ve gone to the top of the campanile in Siena, the Duomo in Firenze, the Arc d’ Triomph in Paris…yours are much more exotic locations, but I’m a believer in heights too! @TheWorldCalls (Lisa)
The coolest tower I ever climbed, back when I COULD climb, was La Sagrada Familia, Goudi’s unfinished church in Barcelona with my wife on our honeymoon. Just the experience of carefully climbing the uneven stairs up through an ever tightening circumference was quite an experience! And you could see all around you. Beautiful, unforgettable experience.
@Barbara that’s funny! They usually tell you the number of steps before you start, so counting is a great way of keeping check on how far you’ve got.
@Lisa you must have enjoyed some fabulous views of Florence/Siena/Paris. I remember seeing Siena from a high place and just have a recollection of a sea of red roofs. Very nice scene.
@Ron The Sagrada Familia must be a great climb, and the views from the top awesome. We were there last year but the lines to go up were too long. Gaudi wouldn’t have made it easy!