Plague Column - Plague Column

Pretty monument

great done

The owner of the Chlumín estate, Anna Marie Františka Tuscany, had a richly decorated column built in the western part of the large village square in 1729, allegedly as a thank you for ending the last great epidemic of this disease in Bohemia (1714). The author was Johan Pursch. The column has a triangular floor plan with a richly decorated plinth, in the niches of which stand statues of three provincial patrons: Saints Wenceslas, Ludmila and John of Nepomuk. On the shaft of the column above their heads, there are reliefs with scenes of the alleged torture of each of them (murder at the door of the Old Boleslav church, strangulation in Tetín and dropping from the Stone Bridge in Prague). The column is probably a reaction to the nearby similarly decorated column in Obříství, the relatively long time lag since the attack of the disease and the absence of typical "plague" saints somewhat calls into question the alleged main motif of its construction. In 1729, the owner of the Chlumín manor Anna Františka Toskany built a richly decorated column in the western part of the village square, supposedly as a thanks for the disappearance of the last great epidemic of this disease in Bohemia (1714). The author was Johan Pursch. The column has a three-sided ground plan with a richly decorated plinth, in whose niches there are sculptures of three patrons: Saint Wenceslas, Ludmila and Jan Nepomuk. Above their heads there are reliefs with scenes of the alleged torture of each of them (murder at the door of the Old Boleslav church, strangulation on Tetín and the dropping from the stone bridge in Prague). The column is apparently a reaction to a nearby similarly decorated Column in Obříství village, but a relatively long delay from the attack of the disease and the absence of typical "plague" saints somewhat casts doubt on the alleged major motive of it´s construction.

The sculptural group testifies to the historical position of Chlumín as a small town. It is worth looking at the individual sculptures up close, they are quality late Baroque works.