Wenceslas Square
Being there
Václavské náměstí is a wide boulevard running down from the National Museum and it's crammed with bars, restaurants and casinos. It is the heart of central Prague. All three metro lines cross there: line A and C cross at "Muzeum" station (upper part of boulevard next to National Museum), while lines A and B cross at "Můstek" station (middle to lower part of boulevard). Wenceslas Square and the surrounding area was an important place of demonstrations during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. There is a big statue of St. Wenceslas riding his horse in the upper part of the boulevard. St. Wenceslas is the patron of Czech lands, so this monument was the focal point of the anticommunist demonstrations. Just few dozen meters down from the monument, at the place where Jan Palach burned himself in 1969 in protest against Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, there is a marble plate in memory of the victims of communism. The St. Wenceslas statue is also a popular meeting point; if somebody in Prague wants to meet u koně (near the horse) or pod ocasem (under the horse tail), this place is meant. A notable building is the beautiful Hotel Evropa in Art Nouveau style (1906) in the middle of the boulevard.
The story
Wenceslas Square (Czech: Václavské náměstí, pronounced [ˈvaːtslafskɛː ˈnaːmɲɛstiː] , colloquially Václavák, pronounced [ˈvaːtslavaːk]; German: Wenzelsplatz) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. It is also the place with the busiest pedestrian traffic in the whole country. The square is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. It is part of the historic centre of Prague, a World Heritage Site.
Formerly known as Koňský trh or Rossmarkt (Horse Market), for its periodic accommodation of horse markets during the Middle Ages, it was renamed Svatováclavské náměstí (English: Saint Wenceslas square) in 1848 on the proposal of Karel Havlíček Borovský.