This is a 750-metre avenue that ends at the imposing National Museum and the Statue of Wenceslas on Horseback. It was originally the horse market that Charles IV wanted to make the centre of his New City. Since the 19C, this has been the symbolic gathering point of Czech life. The Republic was proclaimed here in '18, the Germans paraded here in '39, Ian Palach killed himself here in '68 and in 1989, Dubcek made the speech that was interrupted by the tanks.