Kutna Hora, Czechia

Kutna Hora Train Station

 We took the train from Prague to a nearby town called Kutna Hora for a little visit.  Kutna Hora is a UNESCO world heritage site, due in part to its silver mining history as well as the phenomenal gothic St. Barbara's Cathedral and the Sedlec Ossuary.

Kutna Hora

Since the train back to Prague only runs at certain times we were only going to have a couple of hours to see the Cathedral and the Ossuary.  The Sedlec Ossuary is close to the train station but we decided to hop on the bus and go to the town first.  Our plan was to visit the Ossuary on the way back to the train station.  That ended up being a good choice as we were so overwhelmed by the Ossuary - also known as the "Bone Church" that it would have completely overshadowed our visit to St. Barbaras.

 

St. Barbara's Cathedral

Construction on St. Barbara's Cathedral began in 1388 but was not completed until 1905.  The fact that despite delays, one of which lasted 60 years, the Church was eventually completed is by itself amazing.  As the construction changed from architect to architect so did the vision for the Church.  Both the size and style changed over time yet it still retained many of the gothic features such as the flying buttresses.

St. Barbara's Cathedral

St. Barbara's is decorated with beautiful stained glass windows and large, imposing statues.  One of the most ornate features is the magnificent pipe organ. Although we did not hear the pipe organ, we were treated to a small choir practice which was a perfect demonstration of the phenomenal acoustics.

 

Pipe Organ

Italian Court

The source of Kutna Hora's wealth was the silver mines. There is a mining museum there that would have been worth a visit but our time was limited.  So after walking around town a bit we headed back to the train station and the "bone church".

Sedlec Ossuary

 The Bone Church is not large but it is unique.  It was built in the center of the Sedlec Abbey cemetery which for many years was considered a very holy place.  For that reason, many people wanted to be buried there.  The 14th century brought the plague and the death of thousands, all these folks wanted to be buried at the Sedlec Abbey cemetery.  In 1400, knowing that there were mass graves in the cemetery the Abbey decided to build a "ossuary" to house the bones as they needed room for more burials. The bones were exhumed and initially just stacked up in the ossuary.  Then in 1870, an architect was hired to do something with the bones.  What he did is astonishing!

 

The bone chandelier

Who knows how or why he decided that a chandelier out of human bones would be the ideal thing to do with the bones in his care. But he did make that decision and therefore the main feature when you walk in the church is a huge chandelier with at least one of every bone in the human body in the structure.  From there he made strands of garland out of skulls and other bones that hangs everywhere.  In the corners of the structure are stacks and stacks of skulls.  It is the most macabre thing we have ever seen.  

Skulls in the Sedlec Cathedral

You are not allowed to take photos inside the bone church so our picture of the chandelier is actually a picture of a postcard.  We left that church thinking we would be having nightmares for a week!  We could not stop talking about what sort of mind thinks of making a chandelier of bones!  Imagining them putting it all together, trying different combinations - it was just plain creepy!!  But we have seen it so we can check that box!  On to more pleasant sites...