St. Cyril and St. Methodius on Charles Bridge / Sv. Cyril a Sv. Metodej na Karlove moste (Prague) - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Depicted sculptural group of St. Cyril and St. Methodius (Sv. Cyril a Sv. Metodej ) is one of 31 historic statues (...or groups) decorating famous Gothic Charles Bridge (Karluv most) in Prague' centre.

What makes Charles Bridge a top tourist attraction is the open air sculptural gallery which adorns it. It was created much later than the actual bridge construction, mostly in 1706-1714 in the expectation of the canonisation of John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucký). Despite the partial changes the gallery has undergone since its creation, it is still a great reflection of the history of the Czech lands - there are 31 statues and groups of statues in all on the bridge today with approximately 100 figures, among them also prime works of the great men of central European sculpture Matthias B. Braun and Ferdinand M. Brokoff. Since 1965 the precious originals of the statues have been gradually replaced by replicas. In extent and quality this bridge gallery has no equal in Europe.

Sculptural group of St. Cyril and St. Methodius is the 5th one on the right looking from the Old Town Bridge Tower. The sandstone sculptural group, work of Karel Dvorák (1929-1935), was donated by the Ministry of Education and Culture that ordered the statue for the 10th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia (it is the only statue on the bridge that was paid for by the government). It is the youngest statue on Charles Bridge (erected in 1938). It shows the Slavic apostles St. Cyril and St. Methodius spreading the Gospel and baptizing pagan Slavs and symbolizes their mission and the idea of Slavic unity. The sculptor succeeded in creating a modern statue that, at the same time, fits in with the surrounding Baroque statues.

St. Cyril and St. Methodius were 9th-century Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessalonica, Macedonia, in the Byzantine Empire. They were the principal Christian missionaries among the Slavic peoples of the Great Moravia and Pannonia, introducing Orthodox Christianity and writing to the hitherto illiterate, pagan Slav migrants into parts of Macedonia and elsewhere in the Balkans. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.

Today, Saints Cyril and Methodius are revered there as national saints and their name day (5 July), "Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day" is a national holiday in Czech Republic. [wiki]