Holy Trinity Column (Chomutov)

The Holy Trinity Column stands in the upper part of May 1st Square (Náměstí 1. máje) in Chomutov, Czech Republic, between the town tower and the town hall. This Baroque sandstone monument is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the town's historic centre, even though it is sometimes mistaken for an ordinary plague column.

Where exactly does the column stand?

The column's current position is not its original one. Until 1962 it stood in the middle of the square; a renovation that year relocated it to a corner near the town hall and the tower, the spot where it can still be seen. May 1st Square is Chomutov's main square, so the column sits alongside the town's other historic buildings and is easy to reach on foot.

When was it built and who paid for it?

Work began with a cornerstone ceremony held on 16 July 1697, attended by Johannes Hanke, then rector of Chomutov's Jesuit college. The Wolf family covered the costs and, alongside the monument, also paid for a yearly procession on St Anne's feast day, 26 July, linking the column to a set date on the town's calendar. The monument did not take its final form immediately: it was expanded with further sculptural additions over the following 35 years until it reached the multi-tiered shape visitors see today.

What sculptures decorate the column?

At the top stands a group depicting Christ with the cross, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St Anne; the opposite side of the shaft carries a figure of St Joseph. Lower down, on the pedestal, four statues stand guard: St John of Nepomuk, St Rosalia, St Catherine of Alexandria and St John the Baptist. Between 1725 and 1732 the column was enlarged with a stone balustrade carrying further statues of saints — Florian, Theodore Tiro, James the Greater, Leonard, Roch, Victor and Wenceslas. The figure of St Victor was carved by the sculptor Jan Osvald of Černovice.

How big is the column and what is it made of?

The column stands roughly 10.5 metres tall and weighs six tonnes. It is carved from sandstone, and its shaft references the Corinthian order, giving the whole monument the slender, vertical profile typical of Baroque sacred columns of the period.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Holy Trinity Column a protected monument? Yes — it has been listed as a cultural monument since 1958.

Is this a plague column? It is sometimes mislabelled as one, but its iconography centres on the Holy Trinity rather than the votive plague-column tradition raised elsewhere in the region during the same period.

Who created the column? The sculptor Ambrož Laurentis carried out the original work, and Jan Osvald of Černovice contributed at least one of the later saint figures added during the 1725–1732 expansion.

Where in Chomutov can visitors find it? In the upper part of May 1st Square, between the town tower and the town hall, right in the town centre.