“The history of Kutná Hora is linked to silver mining. Initially established as a mining camp, in the second half of the 13th century, it soon became a Royal Town, competing with Prague. Since 1961, Kutná Hora has been part of the National Heritage List with the UNESCO status.”
With such a powerful description, I thought the visit must be compulsory. Kutná Hora is a Czech medieval town in the middle Bohemian region with some really interesting landmarks.
After a whole morning of trains, I finally got to KH’s train station. There was a bus to the center which, of course, I missed, so I had to walked 4 km down the road until my first stop by UNESCO Kátedrála Nanebevzetí Panny Marie (Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady). It’s the oldest monastery church in Bohemia. It was founded in 1142, so from outside it looks a huge medieval structure, but due to the several remodelings after the wars, the inside looks quite modern. It holds valuable altar paitings by Petr Brandl, a famous Czech Baroque painter from Prague.
Just across the road, it was the main reason which brought me to this town: Kostnice v Sedlci (The Sedlec Ossuary-Bone Chapel). It’s is a small cementery church with an underground Ossuary Chapel decorated entirely with the human bones of 40.000 dead people. Yes, as macabre as it sounds. In this cold chapel, you can find four pyramids of bones with a wooden crown on the top representing the Jesus Christ’s triumph. There is an spectacular chandelier, garlands of bones and the coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, thanks to their patronage the Ossuary was maintained. A bit grisly but worthy to visit.
With such a powerful description, I thought the visit must be compulsory. Kutná Hora is a Czech medieval town in the middle Bohemian region with some really interesting landmarks.
After a whole morning of trains, I finally got to KH’s train station. There was a bus to the center which, of course, I missed, so I had to walked 4 km down the road until my first stop by UNESCO Kátedrála Nanebevzetí Panny Marie (Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady). It’s the oldest monastery church in Bohemia. It was founded in 1142, so from outside it looks a huge medieval structure, but due to the several remodelings after the wars, the inside looks quite modern. It holds valuable altar paitings by Petr Brandl, a famous Czech Baroque painter from Prague.
Just across the road, it was the main reason which brought me to this town: Kostnice v Sedlci (The Sedlec Ossuary-Bone Chapel). It’s is a small cementery church with an underground Ossuary Chapel decorated entirely with the human bones of 40.000 dead people. Yes, as macabre as it sounds. In this cold chapel, you can find four pyramids of bones with a wooden crown on the top representing the Jesus Christ’s triumph. There is an spectacular chandelier, garlands of bones and the coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, thanks to their patronage the Ossuary was maintained. A bit grisly but worthy to visit.
Next day morning, I was ready to visit the breathtaking UNESCO Chrám sv. Barbory (Church of St Barbara). The Czech Republic is a land noted by its many Gothic churches, but this is the most spectacular one. The brigde which takes you to the church with all the statues along reminded me of Charles Bridge in Prague. My first impression of such a monumental building was simply amazement. It took more than 500 years to be completed. St Barbara is the patron saint of the miners, so in some chapels there are still medieval murals with mining themes preserved. Once inside, I had a feeling of vertigo, everything it’s just huge: the black baroque altars, painted stained glass windows with historic scenes, the Gothic confessionals, the main vault decorated with coats of arms… It’s gt the dimessions of a cathedral, however, the original design was for a twice the size of the present building.
The rest of the day I wandered around visiting the rest of the main attractions: Morový sloup (Plague Column), Kamenná kašna (Stone fountain), Jezuiská kolej (Jesuit college), Kláster řadu sv.Voršily (Ursuline Convent), Hrádek (museum of silver), and some of the many cute artcraft shops.
My last visit was to Vlašský dvůr (the Italian Court): originally it was the central mint but it has also served as the temporary residence of the Bohemian kings. The tour in Czech had just started when I bought my ticket, so someone took me quicky to the Royal Hall, the room the whole group had stopped at that moment. Suddenly the door was opened and all the looks were fixed on me. I was standing there holding my English text and blushing with a smile. We were told about the medieval silver mining process and I got a nice souvenir: a coin made in the traditional way: with a blow of a hammer. The guide girl was very kind, and after the tour, we sat together and talked about my experience in the Czech Republic.
I walked all the way back to the train station with a big smile in my face.
I walked all the way back to the train station with a big smile in my face.