When it was constructed in 1893, the Fire Watchtower was the tallest building in Bucharest at an impish 50 metres. The only watchtower remaining in the city, the structure's purpose was to be a lookout point from which the city's firemen could survey the city for the threat of fires. The ground floor housed the company's fire carriages and horses, while the first floor served as a barracks and the second floor as the observation level. The surveillance of the city continued from here until 1910, when the telephone sadly replaced the need for 24-hour watchmen. The building housed a firemen museum for years with access to the lookout level, but perhaps the neighbours across the street got tired of the prying, it subsequently closed and today the building truly serves no public purpose.
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