Technical monuments
The brick tower at 37 Warszawska Street is the tallest structure in Giżycko and one of the more interesting examples of repurposed historic infrastructure in Masuria. Built in 1900 in the Neo-Gothic style, it supplied the town with running water for 96 years and today serves visitors as a viewing point with a café at the top.
Beneath the tower vault hangs a zinc-sheet tank designed by engineer Otto Intze — 3.8 m high and 8 m wide, holding about 200 cubic metres of water. The masonry structure is 7.2 m wide at the base, while the crown, which housed the tank, widens to 9.06 m. On both sides of the entrance you can see the coats of arms of Giżycko and the flag of Masuria.
Water flowed from the tower until 1996, when the water supply system was rebuilt. The tower owes its second life to a local entrepreneur: the renovation completed in 2009 cost 3 million zloty, 10,000 bricks were replaced in the wall, and a café with a viewing terrace jutting beyond the structure was built on the roof, covered by a dome with a weathervane. Inside, three new floors were added along with a museum of keepsakes of the former inhabitants of Masuria.
129 steps or a lift lead to the top. From the terrace you can see the panorama of the town, Lake Niegocin and the Boyen Fortress. The tower operates in the summer season, from May to September, receiving around 40,000 visitors — almost exclusively holidaymakers coming to the lakes. Entry is paid and children up to seven years of age enter free of charge; check the current opening hours before your visit, as in high summer the tower stays open until late evening.
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