Prague, April 1 (CTK) – Two of the four granite monoliths that originally stood behind the St Wenceslas equestrian statue in Prague but were transferred elsewhere in the Wenceslas Square in the past, will be returned to their original place, Barbora Liskova, from the roads administration authority, has told CTK.
The statue dominates one of Prague’s most bustling central squares, which is named after St Wenceslas, a medieval prince from the Premyslide dynasty and the Czech saint patron.
“Everything started ten years ago, when our employees found out, by sheer accident, that the two stones, which stand behind the St Wenceslas statue, have another two to complement them, which were transferred several dozens of metres up the square…in the past century, probably due to the construction of a tram track,” Liskova said.
The statue of St Wenceslas was made by Czech sculptor Josef Vaclav Myslbek in 1912. In 1912-1913, Myslbek surrounded it with three standing figures of St Prokop, St Agnes and St Ludmila, and the last saint, St Vojtech (Adalbert), was added to them after his death in 1924.
“We are glad that after years…we have succeeded in finding documents that will enable us to return the original look to the St Wenceslas sculpture,” the authority’s general director Petr Smolka said.
The works on preparing the monoliths’ transfer will start on Tuesday. Their transfer and cleaning is scheduled for Thursday, and on Friday, April 6, the reinstallation is to be complete.
The other two stones, which never left their place behind the statue, will be cleaned as well and all four stones will be elevated to a level corresponding to their original position.
“In doing so, we will return the original look to the sculpture,” Jan Zemanek, from the road administration authority, said.
