New access to the tower
The new access to the leaning tower was designed by the well-known architect Martin Rajniš, who stands out as the author of a number of unique wooden structures (e.g. the Czech Post Office on Sněžka), and his architectural office.
A prismatic stair tower should rise to a height of 12 metres, replacing the original staircase.
This structure is covered on the outside with solid wooden louvres to protect the structure against the weather.
The tower follows the traditionally used morphology.
Its simple shape clearly demonstrates its relationship to the main church tower – the proposed tower is of a profane service character.
With its light airy structure it gives prominence to the main thing – the mass of the church.
Opening the tower to the public would give the public the opportunity to admire the hidden face of Mokra’s architecture up close, the unique set of bells from the High Middle Ages, one of which bears the portrait of Jan Hus, and to enjoy the view of the town from the former bell-ringer’s apartment.
Another minimally known attraction of the tower’s interior are the internal structural interventions from the workshop of the famous author of reinforced concrete structures Bedřich Hacar, who sponsored the securing of the heavily structurally damaged tower at a time when he was working on war-damaged monuments, such as the monastery in Emmaus.
His creation, in the form of a few reinforced concrete collars and steel rods, and here, although not as architecturally distinctive as at Emmaus, remains attractive and dramatic. The highlight of the tour is a physical demonstration of the tower’s slant, where the floor on the top floor is so tilted that when a bottle is placed on the ground, it rolls surprisingly quickly into a corner under its own weight.
