Sloup Nejsvetejší Trojice / The Most Holy Trinity Column - Žatec (North-West Bohemia) - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

The monumental Baroque Column of the Most Holy Trinity (Sloup Nejsvetejší Trojice), located in the middle of Námestí Svobody (Liberty Square) in Žatec, was built by sculptor František Tollinger from Litomerice as a protection against plague epidemics in the years 1707–1713.

The almost 20 m high column was built on the basis of the will of the local pharmacist Johann Clemens Calderar, who bequeathed the money spent on the sale of his pharmacy for its construction. The gift is reminiscent of a cartouche (located on the west side of the pedestal of the column) with a chronogram, the coat of arms of a donor and a relief depicting the pharmacist Calderar and his wife praying to the Virgin Mary. The column was completed by the sculptor Jan Karel Vetter from Žatec in 1735.

The column consists of a multi-stage stylobat on the floor plan of an equilateral triangle on which is a corniced podium of a similar floor plan with a plinth carrying a cloud obelisk. The plinth is more subtle than the podium and has a similar floor plan shape. Attached to the corners of the plinth are volute wings with a massive lower volute, which bear statues of three angels. The column itself is a triangular obelisk densely covered with stylized clouds between which is large number of angels' heads, changing at the top into angels supporting a cloud mass with a large copper cross and the Most Holy Trinity in a traditional iconographic concept (seated God the Father, Jesus on his right and Holy Spirit like a dove flies at their feet). The column is complemented by a balustrade with statues of saints (St. John of Nepomuk, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Procopius, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Joseph the Foster with Jesus, St. Wenceslas, St. Sigismund and St. Florian) and two angels.

Source: excerpted and translated from Wikipedia and National Heritage Institute portal.