Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The most famous figure is the monument to
St John of Nepomuk
. According to
the legend on the base of the statue, Wenceslas IV had him trussed up in armour and
thrown off the bridge in 1393 for refusing to divulge the queen's confessions (he was
her priest), though the real reason had to do with the bitter conflict between church
and state; the stars in his halo allegedly followed his corpse down the river. Tradition
says that if you rub the bronze plaque, you will one day return to Prague. A bronze
cross set in the parapet between statues 17 and 19 marks the point where he was
thrown off.
BRADÁČ
At the Staré Město end of the bridge, look over the downstream parapet at the retain-
ing wall on the right and you'll see a carved stone head known as Bradáč (Bearded
Man). When the river level rose above this medieval marker, Praguers knew it was
time to head for the hills. A blue line on the modern flood gauge nearby shows the
level of the 2002 flood, no less than 2m above Bradáč!
Pickpocket gangs work the bridge day and night, so keep your purse or wallet
safe
.
FLOOD DAMAGE
Although the bridge has survived for more than 600 years, it was badly damaged in the
floods of 1890 when three of the arches collapsed. You can see photographs of the
CHARLES BRIDGE STATUES
Starting from the western (Malá Strana) end, with odd numbers on your left and
even ones on your right, the statues that line the bridge are as follows:
»
1 Sts Cosmas & Damian
(1709) Third-century physician brothers.
»
2 St Wenceslas
(sv Václav; 1858) Patron saint of Bohemia.
»
3 St Vitus
(sv Víta; 1714) Patron saint of Prague.
»
4 Sts John of Matha & Félix de Valois
(1714) The 12th-century French
founders of the Trinitarian order.
