St. Stephen's Cathedral with a lookout tower

In 1655 the bishopric was founded and the chapter church became the cathedral. Around it, a set of buildings necessary for the life of the bishopric was built. St. Stephen's Cathedral is one of the most significant landmarks of the town of Litoměřice. The original Romanesque building was founded around 1057. However, it was demolished in the second half of the 17th century and immediately afterwards the present St. Stephen's Cathedral was built in the early Baroque style, perhaps according to the design of the Litoměřice builders Bernard Spineta and Giulio Broggio. Originally, however, the cathedral was without a tower. Today the cathedral has an early Baroque appearance and is equipped with very valuable and stylistically uniform furnishings. Regular services and organ concerts are held here. There is a bell tower in the neighbourhood, which can be climbed to enjoy the magnificent view. Behind the cathedral is the bishop's residence, a palatial Italianate building.

The cathedral is over 20 metres high and 50 metres long.

Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral

From a height of more than 50 metres it offers views of the city and its surroundings and has been open since May 2010. The Baroque St. Stephen's Cathedral in Litoměřice and the previous Gothic church did not originally have a tower. Bishop Hugo Count Königsegg (1711-1720) started to build a separate tower outside the church. However, he built only an eleven-metre high foundation on which a wooden Baroque bell tower was built. It was only Bishop Antonín L. Frind (1879-81), a well-known historian, who instigated the completion of the tower, which was built in 1883-89 according to the design of the Viennese architect Heinrich Ferstel by the Litoměřice builder Franz Sander. The personal emblem of the 14th Bishop of Litoměřice, Emanuel Jan Schöbel, can be found on the connecting arch between the cathedral and the tower.

The view from here is magnificent on all sides of the world and also other tourist destinations in the area. Looking across the town, you can see the Mostka lookout tower in the distance, Radobýl hill, next to it on the left on the other side of the river is Lovoš. If you look further to the left, you can also see Házmburk Castle and Říp Mountain. However, you have to climb 118 stone and 83 wooden steps to get there.