If there is one place that you will end up during your time in the Czech Republic that is not Prague, it will very likely be Kutná Hora. Kutná Hora is just a roughly 60-minute train ride from Prague's main station, and is a classic destination for day trips out of Prague. A couple weeks ago this is exactly what we did. We caught the train in the morning and then just barely ("barely", like after running a few kilometers and then jumping onto a carriage as the conductor blew the whistle, "barely") made it on the last train back to Prague in the evening.
Kutná Hora is not a very big town and I did not feel drawn in any special way to the town itself. It seemed as if the town had been hastily put together around its main points of interest, and aside from that Kutná Hora itself did't have the welcoming, comfortable, magical atmosphere that is present in many other ancient European cities. The main sights to see are Sedlec Ossuary, probably its most famous attraction, St. Barbora's Cathedral, and the old silver mines (which we unfortunately didn't get to see, as they were all booked out). A fourth destination, which I don't believe is fully taken advantage of, is the old Jesuit College that is now home to the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region (GASK). You will also find a wide array of churches and other points of interest while further exploring the city. Kutná Hora was raised to glory by the famous Charles IV, who used its mines to provision the kingdom with currency. This is also why there may be a disproportionate number of churches and seemingly important buildings for a town of its size.
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| In Sedlec Ossuary, a small Roman Catholic parish where dirt from the Holy Land was brought and sprinkled before construction, giving the monastery, cemetery, and ossuary special standing among the faithful of Europe |
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| The coat-of-arms of the Schwarzenberg family |
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The ossuary is decorated with the skeletons of
tens of thousands of individuals, many of
whom are thought to have died in the plague |
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| A beautiful door decorated in a way that reminded me both of New Mexico and of my relatives in Verdigre, Nebraska |
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Jesuit College on the right, St. Barbora's on the
far side |
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| Little Vendula in the big, wide Kutná Hora world... |
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Inside St. Barbora's, the lower windows were stained
glass, and the top simple clear glass |
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| The ceiling of St. Barbora's |
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You can see the amazingly impressive flying
buttresses from inside the second level |
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Winding down the day with a tour of modern art at
GASK. I very much enjoyed the building and the
presentation of the exhibitions |
