The historic pillar with the statue of the Virgin Mary was restored on the Old Town Square in Prague

In the historical center of the Czech capital, a 14-meter column was again installed, crowned with a gilded statue of the Most Holy Theotokos. This decision was adopted by the City Council by a majority vote back in January, despite the objections of the Mayor of Prague Zdenek Grzyb.

The monument to the Blessed Virgin Mary on a high pillar was erected in 1652 to commemorate the salvation from the siege of the Swedes during the heroic defense of the city by local residents during the Thirty Years' War. The statue, called the Marian Pillar, was made of limestone by the Czech sculptor Jiri Bendla.

After the end of the First World War, on the day of the proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia - November 3, 1918 - the statue was demolished under the influence of the speech of the anarchist writer Frant Sauer, who threw a noose on the monument with his own hand. The sculpture shattered into pieces when it fell. For many Czechoslovak politicians of that era, the monument symbolized the power of the Habsburgs, from which the Czech Republic was liberated, so the country's first president, Tomas Masaryk, approved the demolition - but immediately signed a decree on the inviolability of all other historical monuments.

Now, on the Old Town Square, there is an exact copy of the statue of the Virgin Mary, which the inhabitants of Golden Prague, since the Middle Ages, considered the heavenly patroness of the city and offered prayers for its well-being. The sculptor Petr Vanya has been working on the new statue for twelve years. The base of the pillar on which the statue is erected is framed by angels, plunging allegorical incarnations of demonic forces: war in the guise of a lion, epidemics in the form of a basilisk, hunger, which is symbolized by a dragon, and heresy, depicted as a snake.

Photo: Air Force