St. John of Nepomuk / Sv. Jan Nepomucký (Litomerice - North Bohemia)
N 50° 31.992 E 014° 08.178
33U E 438788 N 5598273
Depicted Baroque sandstone statue of Czech Catholic patron saint St. John of Nepomuk (Sv. Jan Nepomucký) is located at the front wall of Church of St. Ludmila in Litomerice.
Waymark Code: WMB0P7
Location: Ústecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/20/2011
Views: 102
Depicted Baroque sandstone statue (ca 1729) of Czech Catholic patron saint St. John of Nepomuk (Sv. Jan Nepomucký) is located at the front wall of Church of St. Ludmila in Litomerice.
St. John of Nepomuk was a person, who refused to betray a secret, confided to him by Queen Sophia, to the king Wenceslas IV. He was tortured on the king´s demand and then thrown to the river Vltava from the Charles Bridge in 1393. The inseparable attributes of St. John of Nepomuk statue are the five stars, a surplice, a cross and a martyr´s palm tree. The five stars allegedly appeared above the river, after the martyr was thrown there. They are supposed to symbolize the five letters of Latin word "tacet", which means "silent". There is a brassy cross with five stars at the place on the parapet, where he was thrown to the river. If you place your hand on the cross, so that every finger will touch one star, you can wish something and it will be fulfilled. People also touch the relief on the statue for luck.