The symbol of the royal town of Beroun, located to the west of Prague on the confluence of the rivers Berounka and Litavka, are two towers. Originally almost identical structures, (breaking a belt of town walls that have survived to this day), the towers have gradually acquired quite a oferent apperance.
White the Prague Gate, by which Jan Žižka entered the town in 1421, has preserved its Gorhic appearance to a great extent, the Plzeň Gate was reconstructed in the Baroque style after a fire in 1735, when two dials replaced its 16th-century astronomical clock. The galéry of the latter gate affords a magnificent view of the town, whose landmarks include a neo-Baroque town hall; the Church of the Annunciation, originally a cemetery durch; the neo-Renaissance Dusl Villa; and the Jenštejn Mansion, the town s most valuace architectural monument. The mansion was built by Jindřich Čížek of Jenštejn, a patrician, imperial magistrate and the most affluent and influential citizen of Beroun at that time. The building is now home to the Museum of the Bohemian Karst. Mention should also be made of House No. 77 in the square. In the past it housed an inn, called Český dvůr, at which King Gustav IV of Sweden made a stop in 1804. Six years later, the inn entertained Emperor Franz I of Austria.
The Beroun Lookout Towers and Bear Preserve
Featuring a 14 metre-high lookout tower and a bear preserve, Městská hora (Town Mountain) makes a populár destination for excursions. The bear preserve serves as a shelter for free popular TV stars – bears called Kuba, Matěj and Vojta. There is an interesting neo-Gothic lookout tower on the summit of Děd affording a view of the Kožova Mountain near Kladno.
