History
The tower was built in 1571 with the use of the lower parts of the walls of the mill or the Mill Gate existing since the 15th century. A water supply device was installed in it, with the help of which, through timber canal, water was supplied to the cathedral hill. This innovative device was constructed by Walenty Hendel from Wrocław, while the tower itself was built by a master named Stanisław. It was the only such installation in Poland and the second, after Augsburg, in Europe, where it operated from 1548. Frombork’s water supply system was repaired in 1630 and at the beginning of the 18th century. The tower served its function until the mid-18th century. The waterworks was closed as early as 1778, and it was pulled down in the mid-nineteenth century. The tower itself was renovated in 1964.
Architecture
The Water Tower was built on a rectangular plan, made of ceramic bricks, with two phases of construction visible in the facades. In the northern and southern elevations, were inserted semicircular windows, corresponding to the original division into seven storeys. An entrance opening and three rectangular door openings leading to the former mill building were embedded in the western façade.
The water supply device used the energy of the water flowing through the canal. It rotated the water wheel, which in turn set the bucket mechanism in motion, and this raised the water to a considerable height, from where it was distributed by gravity over the cathedral hill and the surrounding buildings of canons.
Current state
Currently, the tower is privately owned, there is a lookout point with a view of the whole town and a café in it. The interior of the tower is open on six floors (only above the ground floor there is a makeshift ceiling). There are stairs leading to the terrace. In recent years, the external facades have been cleaned, and a plastic-metal roof for the exit from the stairs was erected on the top.
bibliography:
Piaskowski T., Szkop H., Zabytki Fromborka, Frombork 2003.