The larger-than-life equestrian monument to the Czech prince and patron of the lands, Saint Wenceslas, instantly became the symbolic centre of the city. This is where historical events happen and where ordinary Prague citizens gather and meet. Next time you make an appointment near his statue on Wenceslas Square, know that it was created by the founder of modern Czech sculpture, Josef Václav Myslbek. Myslbek spent more than thirty years creating his masterpiece, reworking it several times. He modelled the helmet, sword and chain mail on the monument after Wenceslas’s actual weapons and armour, which are still preserved in the treasury of St. Vitus Cathedral. Saint Wenceslas on horseback is complemented by four statues of standing the patron saints of Bohemia: Ludmila, Agnes, Adalbert and Procopius. Myslbek depicted the latter as his self-portrait. All the statues are cast in bronze, while the stone pedestal is made of dark brown granite. The entire sculpture measures 7.2 meters in height to the tip of the spear. Saint Wenceslas on horseback alone weighs almost 6 tons. The Czech prince Wenceslas is known to people around the world, without suspecting that he is actually the protagonist of the famous Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas. However, Prague’s monument to Wenceslas has also penetrated world culture. In the humorous novel by the English writer Jerome Klapka Jerome Three Men on the Bummel from 1900, i.e. three years before the monument was officially unveiled, Saint Wenceslas helped to correct his friend George, who had become overly fond of Pilsner beer in Prague. Statue of St. Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square | Photo: Prague City Tourism The St. Wenceslas monument has become not only a visual landmark of Prague’s busiest square, but also a natural centre of events. It was here on 28 October 1918 that priest Isidor Zahradník declared an independent Czechoslovak state in front of the gathered crowd. Mass demonstrations for and against the current regime have been taking place here for over a hundred years. Not far from the site, in January 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in protest against the occupation of the country by the Soviet army. In November 1989, the monument of St. Wenceslas became the crystalised centre of demonstrations during the Velvet Revolution, which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. However, the monument of Wenceslas has become popular among ordinary lovers, friends and visitors to Prague as the most common meeting place – either at the head or under the tail of his horse, depending on their mood. Josef Václav Myslbek died in his native Prague a week before his 74th birthday and is buried at Slavín in Vyšehrad in a common tomb for outstanding figures of Czech culture. Just a few steps from the cemetery stand Myslbek’s four monumental sculptures based on Czech legends, which were moved here from the Palacký Bridge over the Vltava River after the devastating American air raid on Prague in February 1945. When strolling through the park, you can see for yourself how faithfully they guard the resting place of their creator.