Prague’s oldest bridge was built to replace the Judith Bridge that had been badly damaged by floods in 1342. The Stone, or Prague, Bridge, called Charles Bridge since 1870, was begun in 1357 by Charles IV and was completed in 1402. The bridge is built of sandstone blocks, flanked at each end by fortified towers (Lesser Town Bridge Towers, Old Town Bridge Tower). From 1683 to 1928, 30 statues of saints were carved to decorate the bridge, the most famous of which is the statue of St John of Nepomuk.First of all, there used to be a crossing via bound logs, the so called steps, in place of the bridge. In the 10th century, there are some references to a wooden bridge, which was, however, threatened by each flood, and therefore Vladislav II had a stone bridge built around 1170 and named it Judith’s Bridge. This bridge existed until 1342, when it was destroyed by flood. The bridge not only got the name of educated and energetic wife of Vladislav, Judith of Thuringia, but she probably also had merit in the actual building of the bridge. There is a preserved Romanic relief of the original bridge inside the smaller Malostranska bridge tower (depicting a sitting person, probably the ruler, passing a document to a kneeling one - there are different interpretations of who the persons might be and on what occasion). The Old Town bridge tower