This square was originally a horse market and when its not accommodating protest marches the local bohemians come down from the hills to set up their craft stalls here. The square is named after St Wenceslas, the first Christian ruler. The square has seen no less than 5 revolutions in the past 7 decades, the last was the 1989 Velvet Revolution when Czech gained its independence from the Soviet state. Of note below the statue of Wenceslas is the monument to 2 university students who killed themselves on this spot in the name of freedom during the Prague Spring uprising of 1968-Jans Palach on 16 January and Jans Zajic in February. Today the buildings look very different with capitalism and foreign investment riding high.