Wenceslas Square

Vaclavske namesti is not a square but a boulevard, seven hundred and fifty metres long and sixty wide, laid out in 1348 as the horse market of Charles IV's New Town and rebuilt through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries into a street of eclectic, Art Nouveau and functionalist facades - the Hotel Europa of 1905 and the Lucerna and Koruna palaces among them. At the top stands the National Museum of 1891 and Myslbek's equestrian statue of St Wenceslas of 1912. The square has been the stage for the country's turning points: the declaration of independence in 1918, the crowds of 1968 and the self-immolation of Jan Palach in 1969, and the demonstrations of November 1989 when hundreds of thousands filled it. Memorials mark those events at the foot of the statue. Commercially it is now a mixed street with chain shops, exchange booths and tourist traps at the lower end.

What you actually see

• A 750-metre boulevard - laid out as a horse market in 1348, not a square.
• Facades from three eras - eclectic, Art Nouveau and functionalist along both sides.
• The Wenceslas statue - Myslbek's equestrian figure of 1912 at the top.
• Memorials at the statue - to the events of 1969 and 1989.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The lower end is heavily commercial with exchange booths and tourist traps - avoid changing money on the street. Pickpockets work the crowds. The square is a thoroughfare rather than a place to linger.

Nearby

The old town square and Municipal House are a short walk north.