Wenceslas Square

Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) in Prague's New Town (Nové Město) district is less a traditional square than a broad, gently sloping boulevard running roughly 750 meters from the Můstek metro station up to the neoclassical steps of the National Museum. Laid out in the 14th century by Charles IV as a horse market, it has served for over a century as the symbolic stage of modern Czech history. The bronze equestrian statue of Saint Wenceslas by Josef Václav Myslbek anchors the upper end of the square, flanked by statues of other Czech patron saints, and is the traditional meeting point for demonstrations and celebrations alike. Visitors walking the length of the boulevard pass Art Nouveau and Functionalist facades from the early 20th century, department stores, arcades, hotels such as the Grand Hotel Evropa, and a dense strip of shops, restaurants, and fast-food outlets that reflect the square's role as a modern commercial thoroughfare rather than a preserved historic set piece. A small, easy-to-miss memorial near the National Museum end marks the spot where student Jan Palach set himself on fire in 1969 in protest of the Soviet invasion, with photographs and often fresh flowers and candles. The same stretch was the site of the November 1989 Velvet Revolution demonstrations that ended four decades of communist rule, and of the 1918 proclamation of Czechoslovak independence. A walk of the full square, from Můstek up to the museum steps, takes about 30–45 minutes at an unhurried pace; allow an hour if stopping to browse shops or side passages such as the historic shopping arcades (pasáže) that branch off it. The square is busiest in the early evening and around Christmas, when a seasonal market with mulled wine stalls fills much of its lower half; mornings are quieter and better for photographing the facades without crowds of shoppers. Because the square is flat, open, and unticketed, it works as a starting or ending point for a walking day rather than a destination requiring a set block of time.