At the southeast end of Wenceslas Square, in front of the National Museum , stands the Wenceslas Monument created in the years 1912 and 1913 by Josef Václav Myslbek
Wenceslas, who ruled from 921 as Duke of Bohemia, was murdered in 935 by his brother Boleslav I. Reports of miracles caused him to become patron saint of Bohemia – in his honour, 28 September is celebrated as a national holiday in the Czech Republic. Although Wenceslas’ murder probably resulted from the power struggle between Saxons and Bavarians in Bohemia, he is nonetheless revered as a martyr. His name was so popular among the Czechs that the writer Johann Fischart (1546–1590) commented after one of his journeys: Bohemians are called Wenceslas, Poles are called Stanislav. The equestrian statue of the duke is surrounded by the figures of four further patron saints of the country. On the right in the front is St Ludmila ( loved by the people ), grandmother of St WenceslasSt Wenceslas and wife of the first duke of Bohemia to receive Christian baptism. When she was murdered by pagan opponents she became Bohemia’s first female martyr.On the left in the front is St Procopius, at the back are St Agnes (Anežka) and St Adalbert (Vojtěch) of Prague.There is another Wenceslas statue on Knights of the Cross Square(Vintner Column with sculpture of St Wenceslas), yet another in Vyšehrad(equestrian statue).
