St. Wenceslaus on Charles Bridge / Sv. Václav na Karlove Moste (Prague) - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Depicted statue of St. Wenceslaus (Sv. Václav) is one of 31 historic sandstone 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.

Statue of St. Wenceslas is the 15th one on the left looking from the Old Town Bridge Tower. The sandstone statue is work of Josef Kamil Böhm (1858) based on a design of painter Josef Führich (1800–1876) and donated by Pavel Alois Klár (1801–1860), the son of the founder of the Klár Institute of the Blind in Prague, Alois Klár (1763–1833), to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the institute. St. Wenceslas is standing on a prismal pedestal with the Latin inscription In memory of the first celebration of twenty-five years since the foundation of the Institute of Blind Children in Prague held on 4 October 1857. The statue is in the place where little shops used to be until the year of 1822.

St. Wenceslaus (Sv. Václav), duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Stará Boleslav, 28 September, 935.

His parents were Duke Vratislav (Wratislaw), a Christian, and Drahomíra, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmila). After the death of Vratislav, Drahomíra, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and Wenceslaus, being urged by the people, took the reins of government. He placed his duchy under the protection of Germany, introduced German priests, and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, which had gone into disuse in many places for want of priests. Wenceslaus had taken the vow of virginity and was known for his virtues. The Emperor Otto I conferred on him the regal dignity and title. For religious and national motives, and at the instigation of Drahomíra, Wenceslaus was murdered by his brother Boleslav. The body, hacked to pieces, was buried at the place of murder, but three years later Boleslav, having repented of his deed, ordered its translation to the Church of St. Vitus in Prague. The gathering of his relics is noted in the calendars on 27 June, their translation on 4 March; his feast is celebrated on 28 September.