Wenceslas Square is a major city square in Prague, the capital of Czechia.
Located in Prague’s New Town, Wenceslas Square is one of the city’s principal commercial and civic spaces. Although it is called a square, its long rectangular shape makes it resemble a broad boulevard. It stretches for roughly 750 metres, with the Czech National Museum and the statue of Saint Wenceslas dominating its southeastern end.
The space was created in the 14th century when King Charles IV founded Prague’s New Town in 1348. It originally served as a horse market and was known as Koňský trh. In 1848 it was renamed after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia.
Wenceslas Square has hosted major demonstrations and national gatherings. Alois Jirásek read the Czechoslovak declaration of independence there in 1918, and huge crowds assembled there during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. It is not Budapest’s Heroes’ Square or Vienna’s historic central squares, though all are prominent Central European landmarks.