St. Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge in Prague
The legend of St. John of Nepomuk
St. John of Nepomuk was a priest who was even entrusted with hearing queen Sophie's confessions. One time the queen shared a big secret with John and he, as always, never revealed it to anyone. Even the king, Wenceslas IV, himself! The king was already suspecting that Sophie is hiding something from him (a lover? a conspiracy?) and demanded John reveal his wife's confession to him. John remained silent and even tortures did not make him speak.
Finally, the king decided to drown the disobedient priest in the river. Under the darkness of night, the king's soldiers threw John of Nepomuk into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge and he drowned. Soldiers had killed all witnesses, and it looked like the king had managed to get away with the murder...until fishermen that were wrapping their nets upstream caught the body of John and tried to pull it to the bank. While doing that, they saw the drowned man's face in water with a halo of 5 stars and recognized him immediately! The king's crime was uncovered and St. John of Nepomuk became a martyr.The statue of St. John of Nepomuk is the oldest statue of the Charles Bridge and the only bronze statue there. It was made by Jan Brokof and installed on the bridge in 1683, 290 years after Nepomuk's death, and 46 years before his veneration.
The general belief is that if you touch the statue and make a wish, your wish will come true within one year and one day, as long as you keep it a secret and never tell anyone what your wish was.
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Taken on Monday April 30, 2007
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Posted on Friday July 28, 2023
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11 comments
Ulrich John said:
Edna Edenkoben replied to Ulrich John:
Eva Lewitus replied to Ulrich John:
Edna Edenkoben said:
Oh, I didn't know about the wish, I wish I had. On Thursday I specifically went to see the one for today's HFF...and I didn't touch him!! I'll be sure to to that with the next Nepomuk I'll encounter :-))
Eva Lewitus replied to Edna Edenkoben:
Boarischa Krautmo said:
Eva Lewitus replied to Boarischa Krautmo:
Annemarie said:
Happy weekend, happy summertime and peace!
Eva Lewitus replied to Annemarie:
Edna Edenkoben replied to Eva Lewitus:
©UdoSm said:
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