The National Monument on Vítkov

Look up at that bronze warrior on horseback. That's Jan Žižka, and this statue weighs 16.5 tons. One of the largest equestrian statues anywhere. When this monument opened in 1932, it honored Czechoslovak legionnaires who fought in World War I. The building behind the statue was designed as their memorial hall. The location wasn't random. In 1420, right here on Vítkov Hill, Žižka led a Hussite army that crushed Catholic crusaders despite being outnumbered ten to one. What this place commemorated kept shifting. In 1953, the communists turned the building into a mausoleum. Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovakia's first communist president, was embalmed and displayed inside in a glass coffin. Other communist leaders joined him over the years. A monument built for fallen soldiers became a shrine to the regime. 1989 ended that. The bodies were removed, cremated, returned to families. The building was cleaned and restored. The Žižka statue never budged. The one eyed general who never lost a battle stayed put through every political shift. Workers cast him in 1932 using 19 separate bronze pieces welded together. The horse alone is 9 meters tall.