Prague - Wenceslas Square, Squares, embankments, courtyards, Squares

Wenceslas Square is the most prominent Prague square and is considered to be the very centre of the city. It is 750m long and 60m wide. The square was founded together with the New Town (1348) as its central area. In the past it was used mainly as a horse market. Today’s dominating features of the square are undoubtedly the National Museum building and a group of statues consisting of St Wenceslas on a horse and four other patrons of Czech nationhood, St Ludmila, St Anezka, St Prokop and St Vojtech. The original name ‚Horse market‘ was replaced by its today’s name in accordance with the suggestion of Karel Havlicek Borovsky in 1848. Originally, from 1860 there was an equestrian statue of St Wenceslas by Jan Jiri Bendle. The current statue was placed here in 1913 and Bendl’s original statue was moved to Stulc’s orchards at Vysehrad. In 1918 the independence of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed here. Wenceslas Square is encircled by many historical houses. As far as public transport is concerned in the middle it is cut across by tram tracks and it is accessible by metro from both the bottom and the top.