City Guardian – Exhibition in the Church of St. Nicholas Bell Tower

The Museum of the City of Prague has prepared a permanent exhibition in the Church of St. Nicholas Bell Tower on Malostranské Square titled Custos Turris / City Guardian, dedicated to the development of the city watch service and the tower's history. The exhibition opened on December 6, 2016 (to the public from December 7, 2016) and represents the final, two-stage version of the display.

Visitors can view the bell-ringer's apartment from the second half of the 18th century, which includes a black kitchen – the only accessible black kitchen in Prague. This section is followed by the watch room where the bell-ringer performed his duties; the interior is arranged to reflect the first half of the 19th century. The second bell-ringer's apartment is furnished as it was in 1891, when the watch function was abolished and the bell-ringer only maintained the tower clock. The exhibition also includes a view into the Baroque sewage system and the bell chamber with the bell frame and the bell of St. Nicholas from 1576. At the top of the tower is the so-called kajka – a State Security observation post that was used from 1964 to 1990 to monitor Western embassies in the area. The tower also played a role during the Prague Uprising, when Wehrmacht soldiers observed barricades in Karmelitská Street from there.

The bell tower, designed by Baroque architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer and completed in 1755, never belonged to the Church of St. Nicholas but was always the property of the Malá Strana municipality. The viewing gallery is located 65 meters above ground and is reached by 215 steps. Since 2021, the bell tower has been managed by Prague City Tourism.