Towers, Spires than can be climbed.

Hello @KarenVChin & @Kwiksatik sadly I missed your Meet up on lists. I think they are a wonderful function and I made few of them them already. For this recent one I was inspired by @MortenCopenhagen list Magnificent views of Copenhagen roof tops from significant city towers.

Also inspired by the monthly #TopicforJuly and post with Historical landmarks , Towers & Spires

by @Emmik20.

I made a list of Towers, Spires than can be climbed in the Netherlands.

These are all towers that can be climbed and offer a great opportunity for areal photography. Keep in mind that atm. many towers can be closed due to Covid-19 so before going to one be sure it’s open.

Panorama seen from the Domtoren

I would love to see your lists of (church)towers and spires that can be climbed.

If you post them here I will add them to my post by editing. The best thing to is give a description to list to with additional info like how high or how many steps it takes to get to the top.

Good luck!

Lists of towers that can be climbed:

  1. Magnificent views of Copenhagen roof tops from significant city towers. by @MortenCopenhagen
  2. Towers, Spires than can be climbed in the Netherlands. by @Erik_van_den_Ham
34 Likes

Hello @Erik_van_den_Ham Thanks for promoting the list. There are interesting Towers and Spires to visit around the world. Your effort will surely inspire people to show more interest at visiting those places.

5 Likes

Happy to read from you @Erik_van_den_Ham

I will really like to climb a tower and feel like I am on top of the world @Erik_van_den_Ham

4 Likes

I think so too @Emmik20 so I hope to see more lists from other countries or cities. Sad thing about these lists is that they can’t be found in any way other than publishing a direct link to them. I hope @Google can do something to change that.

3 Likes

Me too @Ewaade_3A and I have no fear of heights so I can really enjoy the view of the city below. Are there any good high towers in your country that can be climbed?

4 Likes

I wouldn’t know, Nigeria is very big @Erik_van_den_Ham

4 Likes

Here is a list with high(est) buildings in Nigeria @Ewaade_3A not sure which ones you can get in and go to the top.
A quick search gave me this Bower’s Tower, Ibadan.

4 Likes

Wow @Erik_van_den_Ham

Thanks for tagging really this Tower :tokyo_tower: stand :point_up_2: tall and firm which resemblance with your confidence keep exploring further I have my friend in Nigeria @Ewaade_3A She would definitely like this will share with her

Keep exploring and share and care

Regards

3 Likes

Thanks @Anil6969 and I’m glad you like it @Ewaade_3A already seen this post but thank you so much.

4 Likes

Hi @Erik_van_den_Ham ,

Thank you for sharing your list of spires and towers (and @MortenCopenhagen 's, too)! I’m definitely a fan of climbing spires and towers, but there aren’t any I can think of in my country Bulgaria. However, there are plenty of other spots you can climb on to enjoy a beautiful urban panorama. My hometown, Plovdiv, for example, is home to several hills, from the top of which you can see almost the entire city. The best part is that you can visit the hills even at night, and there’s no admission fee.

By the way, I’ll change the topic of your post to Travel as it fits your content better. The Travel board is where Local Guides talk about previous trips or share travel inspiration, like your list. Find out more about Connect topics here. Thank you!

2 Likes

What a pity you missed it @Erik_van_den_Ham ! You did an amazing job with the list, though. Congrats! :tada:

As you very well mentioned in this post I don’t know what the current Covid situation is in the Netherlands but one great tip that was presented in the meetup was that you can include in the main list description a legend saying something like “last updated (date)” or “there might be changes in the days/opening hours due to Covid restrictions”.

Most of us would probably just double check on the place’s Maps profile or website before going but maybe newbies to Maps who come across this great list woulnd’t. Just to be sure! :wink:

2 Likes

Hello @DeniGu you are lucky to live in a country with hill’s and mountains that provide high points and let you enjoy the panoramic view. The Netherlands is a very flat country with just a few low hill that will give you a nice view of the surroundings. That might also be the reason why there are many Watchtowers (list) here so people can enjoy the area from a high viewpoint.

Most of these watchtowers are somewhere in natural areas and don’t overlook cities. That is what I think is makes these church towers and spires unique as they are often situated in the middle of cities. What makes these high viewpoints such fun for me is that they let you see the world almost like looking on a map. Before Google Earth and Maps there was no easy way to enjoy satellite/aerial photo’s of the world so these towers were perhaps even more special. I remember climbing the Dom of Utrecht as a young boy together with my grandfather (465 steps to the top).

Historically these church towers and spires were also used to make maps as the were the perfect places for triangulation made famous by Willebrord Snellius .

I have very nice memories of Bulgaria. I visited it long ago (1992 or 1993 I think). It was a long trip from the West all the way to the Black sea. Visiting Sofia, Vichren the Rhodope Mountains and also your city Plovdiv.

We continued to travel to Burgas and Varna.

It was a trip I will never forget. We met some really nice and helpful people and enjoyed the country.

Thank you for relocating my post to Travel.

2 Likes

Hello @kroza and thank you for the great tip on including the date of last update and Covid-19 warning. I included both to make the list more useful. I’m glad you liked my list I and I loved the idea of your list and post.

1 Like

O Wow

That’s great @Erik_van_den_Ham

I didn’t know it I just wanted to share she had already seen it no problem I like it

Thanks for sharing

Regards

1 Like

I can definitely feel your appreciation for high viewpoints from the Google Maps lists you share and the affection in your words when you talk about your memories climbing the Dom of Utrecht.

To be honest, I never thought about the historical impact on mapping of towers and spires, but you’re right. When I read your comment, my first association was the Astronomical Tower of the Clementinum in Prague, which is full of instruments for measuring the distances between stars and planets. I realise sky mapping is different from earth mapping, but I’m curious, what are your thoughts on astronomical towers?

Wow! It’s wonderful to hear that you’ve been to Bulgaria before and you enjoyed it. There have definitely been a lot of changes, especially in the cities, since your last trip, and I hope you decide to come again one day. And, by the way, The Netherlands have been on my bucket list for years, too!

1 Like

Hi @DeniGu the towers were not only used for sky mapping but also to improve the maps of countries and the world. So in a way sky mapping isn’t so different the distances are just must bigger.

Quote:

“In 1615, Snellius, after the work of Eratosthenes in Ptolemaic Egypt in the 3rd century BC, probably was the first to try to do a large-scale experiment to measure the circumference of the earth using triangulation. He was helped in his measurements by two of his students, the Austrian barons Erasmus and Casparus Sterrenberg. In several cities he also received support of friends among the city leaders (regenten). In his work The terrae Ambitus vera quantitate (1617) under the author’s name (“The Dutch Eratosthenes”) Snellius describes the methods he used. He came up with an estimate of 28,500 Rhineland rods – in modern units 107.37 km for one degree of latitude. 360 times 107.37 then gives a circumference of the Earth of 38,653 km. The actual circumference is 40,075 kilometers, so Snellius underestimated the circumference of the earth by 3.5%.”

Source: Wikipedia

You’re right so much must have changed in Bulgaria since that trip. Travelling now will be so much easier. I remember navigating on a paper map by spelling the Cyrillic script of the place we were heading, like София.

Hard to imagine how difficult this is when you’re not familiar with it.

Back than the change from communism had just taken place.I most certainly would like to visit again but there are so many wishes…and so little time (and money).

1 Like

Nice post of towers @Erik_van_den_Ham

1 Like

Thank you @NILUFA73 I’m glad you like it. Would there be any towers or spires in your country that can be climbed?

Thanks for tagging me @Erik_van_den_Ham to take a look at your Towers, Spires than can be climbed in the Netherlands list. The cool things about your list are:

  1. Your countrymen and people outside of your country who are interested in this subject now can visit and explore your country’s historic church towers.

  2. It can be used as part of the Netherlands Tourist Bureau in the “Things to See and Do” category.

  3. It’s evergreen. You can continue updating your list as I am assuming there are more historic churches in the Netherlands for you to explore and add.

It was very nice to see @kroza (Thank Youuuu!!!) provide you with List tips she learned from @Kwiksatik and my Local Guides Lists for Google Maps virtual meet-up. It’s great to see how you applied it to your existing Google Maps List.

I hope you will be able to join our next one.

Cheers,

Karen

3 Likes

Hello @KarenVChin thank you for looking at my list of Towers, Spires than can be climbed in the Netherlands.

I will update for sure if I find more towers or spires that can be climbed. Of course there are many more but not all of them are open to the public.
I was very happy to get the tip from @kroza . We wouldn’t want to disappoint people going somewhere to find out it is closed.

I have a question and maybe you can answer it. Is there anyway lists can be found by others other than by a direct link?

Looking forward to attend a meet up.

Regards,

Erik

3 Likes