Visiting Prague

Statue of St. Christopher was designed by Emanuel Max in 1857 and sponsored by Václav Wanek, the port reeve of Prague. Originally Count Antonín Sporck planned to build a marble statue as tribute to Charles VI in 1720 and Matthias Braun was going to be creator however it didn’t happen until 1857. The statue depicts St. Christopher holding Christ as a boy on his shoulder. The statue is situated in Charles Bridge in the place of the original bridge watch-house, which collapsed into the river during the Great Flood of 1784. Saint Christopher was listed as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd century Roman emperor Decius and respected by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians. People consider St. Christopher as the patron of travel and travelers. And people believe that anyone who beholds the image of St. Christopher won’t faint on that day, and that’s why his statues are often placed at the entrances of houses and churches, and by bridges.

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