The spectroscopic measurements of the calcium niobate CaNb 2 O 6 (columbite) single crystal doped with trivalent praseodymium ions have been performed. The polarised optical absorption and emission spectra as well as luminescence decay curves of this material have been recorded. The absorption spectra consist of well-resolved transitions from the 3 H 4 ground state to the 3 P J , 1 D J , 1 G J , 3 F J and 3 H J levels. The strongest bands correspond to the 3 H 4 → 3 P 0 and 3 H 4 → 3 F 2 transitions. The former band is composed of three components of different intensity. This suggests the existence of three different centers in the CaNb 2 O 6 crystal for the Pr 3+ ions that substitute for Ca 2+ .The emission spectra of the crystal studied show clear temperature and polarisation dependence. The strongest band of the luminescence corresponds to the 1 D 2 → 3 H 4 transition at 610nm with small bandwidth and high intensity. The lifetime of the 1 D 2 level increases from 59μs to 78μs when temperature decreases from 300K to 50K.