Czech Republic

The legend of St. John of Nepomuk St. John of Nepomuk was a priest who was even entrusted with hearing queen Sophie's confessions. One time the queen shared a big secret with John and he, as always, never revealed it to anyone. Even the king, Wenceslas IV, himself! The king was already suspecting that Sophie is hiding something from him (a lover? a conspiracy?) and demanded John reveal his wife's confession to him. John remained silent and even tortures did not make him speak. Finally, the king decided to drown the disobedient priest in the river. Under the darkness of night, the king's soldiers threw John of Nepomuk into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge and he drowned. Soldiers had killed all witnesses, and it looked like the king had managed to get away with the murder...until fishermen that were wrapping their nets upstream caught the body of John and tried to pull it to the bank. While doing that, they saw the drowned man's face in water with a halo of 5 stars and recognized him immediately! The king's crime was uncovered and St. John of Nepomuk became a martyr.The statue of St. John of Nepomuk is the oldest statue of the Charles Bridge and the only bronze statue there. It was made by Jan Brokof and installed on the bridge in 1683, 290 years after Nepomuk's death, and 46 years before his veneration. The general belief is that if you touch the statue and make a wish, your wish will come true within one year and one day, as long as you keep it a secret and never tell anyone what your wish was.