Maria column, Baroque plague column in Nymburk, Czech Republic

The Maria Column is a sandstone Baroque plague column on náměstí Přemyslovců in Nymburk, with a multi-tiered base whose corners carry statues of St. Wenceslas, St. Giles, St. Florian and St. Joseph. A prismatic postament with Latin inscriptions rises to a conical shaft topped by a smaller-than-life statue of the Virgin Mary.

Nymburk was struck by plague in 1549, 1563, 1598, 1606 and finally 1713; the sandstone column was raised four years later on the main square. Its dating is read from a Latin inscription on the pedestal, and the work is attributed to Jan Jiří Šlanzovský, who made a near-identical Marian column in Kostelec nad Černými lesy in 1719. The sculpture group was repaired in 1857.

The four saints around the column were chosen for local reasons: St. Giles has been patron of the town's Gothic church of St. Giles since 1636, St. Wenceslas is patron of Bohemia, and St. Florian guards against the fires that repeatedly damaged Nymburk. St. Joseph with the Christ Child completes the group.

The column stands on náměstí Přemyslovců, Nymburk's central square, reachable on foot from the surrounding streets. Its multi-step sokl and the four corner statues of Wenceslas, Giles, Florian and Joseph can be walked around freely. Look for the Latin chronograms on the shaft, which all give the year 1717.

Four Latin chronograms on the shaft each add up to 1717, the year the column was erected. The sandstone monument is attributed to Jan Jiří Šlanzovský, who made a near-identical Marian column for Kostelec nad Černými lesy in 1719. Restorer Jan Brabec repaired the column in 2014 after water seeped into the main pedestal.