Image of Saint John Nepomucene

Johannes Nepomucene lived in the 14th century in Bohemia (what is now the Czech Republic). Johannes was captured, tortured, and then drowned in the Vltava River. According to legend, he did not want to violate the secrecy of confession and disclose to King Wenceslaus what his wife had confessed to him. Therefore, he was thrown from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava and thus, according to Christian tradition, died as a martyr. Often, one finds a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk on or next to a bridge, like here on Nepomucenus Bridge in Bruges. He often has one hand on his mouth, indicating the secrecy of confession, and in the other a cross which symbolizes martyrdom.

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