St. Joseph's Column in Nagyszombat
Sacral small monument
The Baroque sculptural ensemble stands on the square in front of the St. Nicholas Cathedral. It was erected in 1731 in gratitude for the end of the great plague epidemic that devastated the city in 1729-30, which spread not only in Nagyszombat, but almost throughout Europe. The creator of the ensemble is the sculptor Ignác Melczer. On the top of the triangular pedestal of the column are statues of three saints: St. Nicholas, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Catherine of Alexandria. On the sides of the pedestal are reliefs depicting scenes from the lives of the three plague saints - St. Rosalia, St. Sebastian and St. Roch. On the smaller pedestal in the middle of the pedestal, angels hold the carpenter's tools of St. Joseph. On the side of this smaller pedestal, a relief of the city's coat of arms can also be seen. On the top of the column is a statue of the monument's patron saint: St. Joseph with the baby Jesus in his arms.