Radegast, Granite statue on Mount Radhošť, Dolní Bečva, Czech Republic.
Radegast is a 3.2-metre granite statue on the Radhošť ridge in Dolní Bečva, facing the summit. The bearded figure wears a bull-horned helmet and patterned belt, holds a flaming torch in his raised right hand and a ring in his lowered left, and stands on a pedestal inscribed RADHOST.
Albín Polášek modelled the figure from 1924 and had two concrete-and-granite casts made around 1930 in Mašek's Prague foundry. The statue was unveiled on Radhošť on 5 July 1931, paid for by Czech emigrants in America. Weather damaged the concrete, and on 4 July 1998 a granite replica carved from an 18-tonne block took its place.
The statue depicts Radegast, a Slavic god of the sun, abundance and harvest. Its belt buckle is shaped like the sun, and a duck sits on the horn of plenty in his right hand. The Nošovice brewery, which uses the statue in its logo, paid for the granite replica.
The statue stands on the Radhošť ridge about 2.5 km east of the summit and roughly 1 km southwest of Pustevny, facing the peak. Marked hiking trails reach it from Pustevny. The restored concrete original is displayed in the vestibule of the town hall in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm.
The figure wears a helmet shaped like a bull head on top of its lion face. It holds both an axe and a horn in its hands, symbols often read as power and plenty.
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