The oldest Marian column in Bohemia was built in the years 1650 - 1652 at the Old Town Square in Prague following the design of the sculptor Jan Jiří Bendl as a thank-you to the Virgin Mary for protecting the Old Town against the Swedish siege. After the establishment of the Czechoslovak state, on November 3, 1918, at the end of the socialist camp, it was taken down because it was seen as a symbol of Habsburg supremacy over Bohemia. its further demolition by the socialists and the anarchists was prevented by Prague inhabitants and summoned troops. The very next day, this act was condemned as a vandalism by a decree and its further destruction was forbidden. Fragments of the sculpture of the figure of fighting angels and fragments of the Virgin Mary torso (including parts of the balustrade) were partially preserved in a building close to the Old Town Hall and were later deposited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.
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