Lotrščak Tower is a white stone tower on the edge of Zagreb's Upper Town, built in the 13th century to guard a gate in the walls of Gradec. Every day at noon a cannon fires from its fourth floor, and the bang echoes across the Lower Town. Its odd name comes from a bell that once warned people the town gates were about to close for the night.
Lotrščak Tower at a glance
- Where: on the Strossmayer Promenade in Gradec, the Upper Town, right next to the upper station of the funicular.
- Built: in the 13th century as part of the walls of Gradec, completed around 1266; raised and remodelled in the 19th century.
- By: the 19th-century alterations that gave the tower its present look were carried out by the architect Kuno Waidmann.
- What it is today: a protected cultural monument run by the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, with a shop on the ground floor, exhibitions, a viewing platform and the Grič cannon.
- Time needed: 15 minutes outside; plan to arrive a little before noon to hear the cannon.
From town gate to time signal
In 1242 King Béla IV issued the Golden Bull, making Gradec a free royal town in thanks for sheltering him from the Tatars, and requiring the citizens to build walls and towers. The work took about twenty years. Lotrščak defended the small southern gate, called Dverce, which was demolished in 1812 when the southern promenade was laid out. In 1646 a bell was hung in the tower and rung every evening before the gates closed. It was known in Latin as campana latrunculorum, the bell of thieves, and that gave the tower its name.
Over the centuries the tower lost its military role. The city sometimes rented it to private citizens on condition that they kept it in repair, and it served as a warehouse, a café and even a home. In the 19th century, notably in 1857, it was raised by two floors and given a wooden fire-watch turret. Then the city decided it needed a daily time signal so that the bell ringers of its churches could ring at exactly the same moment. The Grič cannon was fired for the first time on New Year's Day 1877.
What to look for
- The cannon window: the cannon fires from a south-facing window on the fourth floor. Watch for the puff of white smoke at exactly 12 o'clock.
- The thick walls: the square, Romanesque-style tower has walls about 195 centimetres thick, a reminder of its defensive origin.
- The 19th-century top: the upper floors and the small turret on the roof date from the 19th-century rebuilding, not from the Middle Ages.
- The viewing platform: from the top you look over the red roofs of the Lower Town towards the Sava plain.
- The site of the Dverce gate: the gate itself is gone, but the tower still marks where the town walls once opened onto the slope below.
The legend of the cannon
The cannon is never loaded; it fires a blank charge. A popular legend, best taken with a pinch of salt, says that during an Ottoman threat in the 16th century the citizens fired a cannon from Grič at noon. The ball flew across the Sava and landed in the Turkish camp, hitting the chicken being cooked for the pasha's lunch. The pasha took it as a bad omen and withdrew his army. The real noon gun has been heard almost every day since 1877, falling silent only during the First World War and for a time after the 2020 earthquake.
Tips for your visit
- Be on the Strossmayer Promenade a few minutes before noon. The bang is loud, so warn small children and keep a hand free for your ears.
- Take the funicular up from Tomićeva Street, just off Ilica: the tower is the first thing you see when you step out.
- Check before you go whether the viewing platform is open, as opening times change with the season.
- Come back at sunset, when the promenade above the Lower Town is one of the best places in Zagreb to watch the light fade.
Nearby
- Zagreb funicular: opened in 1890, its 66-metre track makes it one of the shortest public funiculars in the world. The upper station is right beside the tower.
- Strossmayer Promenade: the leafy walk along the old southern walls, with views over the Lower Town and a bronze statue of the poet A. G. Matoš on a bench.
- St Catherine's Church: the Baroque Jesuit church with a white façade on Katarinin trg, a short walk from the tower.
- St Mark's Square: the central square of Gradec, where St Mark's Church with its tiled coats of arms on the roof faces the Croatian Parliament and government, a few minutes' walk north.
See Zagreb with World City Trail
Our Zagreb scavenger hunt turns the city into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 42 minutes of walking. It includes the Botanical Garden and the Croatian National Theatre in the Lower Town, below the Upper Town where Lotrščak stands.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Zagreb.
Play the Zagreb scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Zagreb →
Play the outdoor escape game in Zagreb →
Facts checked in October 2026.