SW News: A 16th-century statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary which was torn down by a mob in Prague’s Old Town Square more than a century ago has been restored to the same spot. The statue is the perfect replica of the original Baroque Marian column which was erected as a memorial.

The Marian sandstone column was erected in the middle of the Old Town Square in thanksgiving for the end of siege of Prague by the Swedish troops in 1648.

It was consecrated by Prague’s Archbishop Cardinal von Harrach in 1652.

After the formation of the independent Czechoslovakia, symbols of Habsburg rule and Catholicism became the targets of nationalists and the column was brought crashing down by an excited mob led by a man named Franta Sauer, a notorious writer on November 3rd, 1918.

Removal of the column was a demonstration of the overthrow of the Habsburg Monarchy.

Marian Column Restoration Society, formed in 1990 faced decades of opposition from atheists, protestant churches and political leaders. Finally, permission to place the replica was granted in 2013.

Sculptor Petr Vana worked tirelessly for several years to make the three-tonne sandstone sculpture of the Virgin Mary which is gilded and surrounded by 12 stars. It was affixed on the column amid applause, cheers, prayers and hymns.

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