Statue of St. John of Nepomuk / Socha Sv. Jana Nepomuckého - Kourim (Central Bohemia)
N 50° 00.141 E 014° 58.654
33U E 498392 N 5538892
The depicted Baroque sandstone statue of the Czech Catholic martyr, St. John of Nepomuk (Sv. Jan Nepomucký), you can find not so far off the town Kourim principal landmarks - the Basilica of St. Stephen and its belfry...
Waymark Code: WM8V94
Location: Středočeský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 05/15/2010
Views: 120
The depicted Baroque sandstone statue of the Czech Catholic martyr St. John of Nepomuk (In Czech: Sv. Jan Nepomucký), standing on graduated sandstone pillar, you can find not so far off the town Kourim principal landmarks - the Basilica of St. Stephen and its belfry.
The statue, funded by Kourim's provost Antonín Jan March, was erected here in 1716, five year before official John's canonizaation.
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.