When a flood consumed the Judith Bridge in 1357, work immediately began on another bridge across the Vltava. Completed in 1402, Charles Bridge (Karl%u016Fv most) was the only structure spanning the river for 460-odd years. Spanning 520m, the sandstone edifice named Stone Bridge didn't become Charles Bridge until 1870. Apart from the towers at either end, the bridge is lined with statues and monuments, the oldest and most popular being the statue of St John of Nepomuk, the Czech patron saint, who was thrown into the Vlatva by bad King Wenceslas IV in 1393.