Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí), 750 meter long and 60 meter wide boulevard located in the New Town, is a vibrant business and cultural centre of the city lined with numerous hotels, restaurants, cafés, casinos, bars, exclusive shops and galleries. During the Middle Ages, the square was known as „Koňský trh“ – horse market – since the horses were traded there. In the mid 19th century the square was renamed after the saint patron of Bohemia, St. Wenceslas. The square, which holds up to 400 000 people, has been a setting of a memorable historical events, manifestations and upheavals in the Czech history. In 1918 the cheering crowds celebrated the independence of the Czechoslovakia on the Austrian monarchy.
In January 1969, Jan Palach, 20 year-old philosophy student, set himself on fire as a protest against the lack of resistance to Soviet invasion. In November 1989, during the Velvet revolution, half a million people gathered on the square to protest against Communist regime and started the process of separation from the communism and the Soviet Union power. There is a statue of St. Wenceslas on his horse at the top of the square. According to the legend, St. Wenceslas was murdered on his way to the mourning religious service by the mercenaries sent by his brother Boleslav. The National Museum, a monumental neo-renaissance building from the end of the 19th century, dominates the whole square. There is the Prague State Opera next to the National Museum.
In January 1969, Jan Palach, 20 year-old philosophy student, set himself on fire as a protest against the lack of resistance to Soviet invasion. In November 1989, during the Velvet revolution, half a million people gathered on the square to protest against Communist regime and started the process of separation from the communism and the Soviet Union power. There is a statue of St. Wenceslas on his horse at the top of the square. According to the legend, St. Wenceslas was murdered on his way to the mourning religious service by the mercenaries sent by his brother Boleslav. The National Museum, a monumental neo-renaissance building from the end of the 19th century, dominates the whole square. There is the Prague State Opera next to the National Museum.
Wenceslas Square