Where have you seen a cannon blast?
Every day in Zagreb at noon, a cannon fires from Lotrščak Tower. The blast startled us the first time we heard it, so we made it a point to figure out where it came from. The Lotrščak Tower was already on our list of places to visit, so this was a double bonus to see the cannon fire.
The Lotrscak Tower dates back to the 13th century, and Zagreb City elders built it to guard the southern gate of the Gradec town wall. For the past 900 years, this tower has been an observation post primarily, and then a merchant warehouse, coffee shop, billiards saloon, residence, cannon battery, and a museum.
The Grič Cannon was placed inside the tower in 1877 to mark midday. This lets the churches know the exact time to ring their bells and adjust their clocks accordingly.
A funicular leads right up to the tower in case you don’t want to walk up the hill. It is one of the shortest funiculars in the world with a 66-meter track.
With no countdown, we waited for the cannon blast and were ready with our cameras. It didn’t matter how much we prepared, it still startled us and we jumped back when it finally blasted. What a cool thing to see!
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