Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

As a day trip from Prague we decided to head

out to a lovely village called Kutna Hora.  We 

left early in the morning and took the tram to 

the main train station in Prague.  From there 

we took the fast train for about an hour to the

main train station at Kutna Hora.

There is a Visitors Center at the station that

can give you maps and advise you as to what 

you can see in the time you have.  We took a

short walk to the Cathedral of Assumption of 

Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist at Sedlec,

This is a Unesco World Heritage Site and has a 

very interesting history.  

  The city was prosperous due to silver mines and the 

area reflects the wealth of times gone by.  The town 

was the cultural center of Bohemia and became a royal 

city.  The cathedral was built in the late 13th century

 and was burned in the 15th century, it was a ruin for 

over 300 years.  When the church was restored it was

 done in the style called Baroque Gothic.

Then it was a short walk up the road to the

Sedlec Ossuary.  The ossuary is said to contain

the skeletons of 40,000 to 70,000 people.

The bones are artistically arranged into swags 

and a chandelier.  I confess I found it to be a

bit creepy and hightailed it out of there pretty

quickly.

We then took a short bus ride to the town center

of Kutna Hora.  While we were on the bus we 

stood up to get off at one point and an older gentleman

in the back of the bus motioned for us to sit down, it 

wasn't time to get off.  When it was the correct stop, 

he motioned for us to get up.  He also told us through

hand signals where to walk and to not turn at the 

crossroads but to continue walking.  We shook hands

 and thanked him and thought we were following his

 directions but we turned at the wrong street and a lady

who was also on the bus yelled to us to keep going

straight.  Now, of course, neither of these people spoke

English but they were happy to assist us through hand

movements.  We find this all over the world, so many

lovely people who help us find our way in remote cities

and villages.  This is often our best memory of a place.

The churches and museums can all blend into one but 

we always remember the people we meet.

We did find the beautiful Cathedral of Saint

Barbara.  This is one of the most famous gothic

churches in central Europe.  Saint Barbara is the

patron saint of miners which is appropriate since

this is a former silver mining town.

The glass windows in the cathedral are stunning.

The color and design are so vibrant.

Within the town you can enjoy a wine garden

right along side the vines.  The views of the 

valley are lovely.

We found a restaurant with a garden terrace 

and enjoyed a lovely lunch.  The Czech Republic

is known for their beer and I have been told it is

very delicious if that is something you might like.

Personally, you couldn't pay me to drink beer, I

have never liked the taste.

Be sure to stroll through the town and look at

the pretty buildings.  Then it was time to get to

the train station to head back to Prague.