Stará Boleslav
Stará Boleslav is a historic part of the town of Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav in the Prague-East District of the Central Bohemian Region.[1][2] According to tradition, Duke Wenceslas was murdered here.[3]*
History
Stará Boleslav was a leading Přemyslid administrative castle and lay on the old trade route from Prague north to Lusatia.[1] In 1960 the formerly separate towns of Brandýs nad Labem and Stará Boleslav were merged into a twin town.[1] The merged town had 20,926 inhabitants as of 31 December 2025.[2]
St Wenceslas tradition and monuments
Duke Wenceslas was murdered on 28 September, traditionally dated to 935, in the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. An older tradition gives the year 929.[3] Duke Břetislav had the Basilica of St Wenceslas built over the site; it was consecrated in 1046. In 1052 the collegiate chapter of Saints Cosmas and Damian was founded here. The small church of Saints Cosmas and Damian lies in the crypt of the basilica.[3] The Basilica of St Wenceslas, the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Romanesque church of St Clement, with frescoes from the mid-12th century, are national cultural monuments.[3]
Stará Boleslav is the oldest Marian pilgrimage site in the Czech Republic. The early Baroque Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, built at the beginning of the 17th century, houses the Palladium of the Czech Lands, a gilded metal relief of the Madonna. According to legend, Bishop Methodius gave it to Princess Ludmila at her baptism.[4] Between 2017 and 2021 both the Basilica of the Assumption and the Basilica of St Wenceslas underwent a general renovation.[4]
St Wenceslas pilgrimage
The Roman Catholic Church revived the National St Wenceslas Pilgrimage in 2003. Since 2000, 28 September has been a public holiday, Czech Statehood Day.[6] At the pilgrimage on 28 September 2026 the Archbishop of Prague, Stanislav Přibyl, celebrated the pilgrimage Mass on Mariánské náměstí. The skull of St Wenceslas, kept for most of the year in the cathedral at Prague Castle, was displayed in the crypt of Saints Cosmas and Damian in the Basilica of St Wenceslas.[5] Guests included former president Václav Klaus and the President of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil.[6]
Sources
* The sources are collected and the preliminary text of this entry is drafted with artificial intelligence, on the instruction of the editorial staff; the entry has not yet been verified by an editor — report a mistake.