The City Tower of St. Martin's Church was originally built as part of the city's defensive walls. We do not know the exact date of its construction but it must have been sometime shortly after 1335 when margrave Karel granted Třebíč generous municipal rights, at the same time obligating the city to erect ramparts.

First written mentions of the tower go back to the early fifteenth century when the construction of the tower was completed as high as the present-day gallery. The incursion of the troops of the King of Hungary Mathias Korvin in 1468 spelt a disaster for the city, destroying, among many other things, the upper part of the tower. The Hungarian troops tried hard to dig under the tower and tear it down but their efforts foundered because of the tower's solid foundations and thoroughly built walls.

The tower originally stood separate from St. Martin's Church but in 1716 the two buildings were connected. Over the following centuries the tower was damaged several times by windstorms and fires, which prompted further partial changes in its construction. One of the most destructive was the fire in 1822 which left in ashes over half of the city, not sparing the tower either. The scale of destruction of the part of the tower above its gallery was such that it eventually collapsed. Because of lack of money the tower was given only a low pyramid-shaped roof.

In 1862 City Hall initiated a thorough restoration of the tower, basically giving it the looks it has today. Further partial repairs were done in 1905, 1936, 1956, 1967, 1976 and 1985 and another major restoration in 1996-1997. The height of the tower from ground level to the top of the cross is 75m. Its ground plan has the dimensions 11.5m x 11.5m. Its gallery is 35m above ground level, the cross above the cupola is 4m tall and can turn around by the force of the wind. According to available information, the dimensions of the tower clock (its face has 5.5m in diameter with numbers as high as 60cm) put it in first place in Europe.