Part 75: Churches of Bones May 5, 2013

On the next gloomy morning (Prague seems to specialize in these) I was off to Kutna Hora to make up for missing out on all of the closed crypts and catacombs Europe had thrown in my face over the past 2 years.   My main objective was to visit the Sedlec Bone Church, but once I got there, I was pleased to discover that the town is old, charming, and an awesome place to spend a day. 

The Kutna Hora train station seems a bit sketchy upon arrival.  It is a small building on a dead end road surrounded by trees.  There is a bus that comes once an hour, but the bone church has great signage and is close enough to walk to.  So I set off prepared to see a church decorated with the bones of 40,000 people (apparently 14^th century plagues followed by 15^th century wars caused lots of death). 

If you’re visiting the Kutna Hora sites, stop in the visitors center, conveniently located on your way to the church) to buy your tickets for the Bone Church and St. Barbar’s Cahtedral before you get there.  You get a small discount and you don’t have to stand in line later on. 

As I approached the bone church, I was surprised to see how small it is.  I was used to huge cathedrals so this was quite a change.  It was decorated by monks about 400 years ago with the intent of reminding people that the church is a community of living and dead and a countless multitude will stand before God.  As time went on, the designers got more creative with their bone décor and created a raven eating the eye out of a skull and a chandelier containing every bone in the human body.  I however am suspect of this claim since I highly doubt the malleus, incus, and stapes are actually present. 

The bone stacks are found in the bottom of the church while the top floor is an ultra modern chapel with modern art depicting the ministry of Jesus.  It was a weird contrast to the old church building and piles of bones in the basement. 

I walked about two blocks away to visit the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist.  I was a little confused when I arrived as to which church it was.  I thought it was the other church you have to see in Kutna Hora, but that is actually St. Barbar’s.  This church is still beautiful, old (circa 1300), and comes with some impressively dressed relics, but it isn’t that exciting overall.  I did like that they let you go upstairs and walk through to see how the wings of the building were constructed. 

From there, I attempted to take the bus to the old town center as recommended to me by the tourist office lady.  However, it is a little confusing and I would recommend just walking if you have the legs for it.  I did find what I was looking for eventually when I came across the Stone Fountain.  When I saw it, it was not what I was expecting.  No water was trickling over cherubs and Roman gods.  Kutna Hora was a silver mining town up until the mines were exhausted around 1700.  All the mining made getting water difficult so it was brought in by pipes and stored in large tanks.   The Stone Fountain is one of those tanks that happened to get a fancy gothic covering during the 15^th century. 

From there, I took in the Stone House.  I didn’t visit the Silver Museum that is housed inside, but I did stop to admire the amazing details outside.  There are vines, animals, and branches carved into the stone and it is apparently one of few such gothic structures in the world. 

I wandered along a creative path that generally led toward St. Barbar’s Cathedral.  I think I might have ended up in an area that was actually closed since the gate I walked through was apparently the only open one and ended up coming alongside the cathedral from a very unique perspective (unique since I was the only one there.  This is another reason I’m pretty sure the area wasn’t open).  After a couple of pictures, I tried to walk towards it but I couldn’t get out of the garden I’d somehow gotten into and had to back track all the way back around.  I finally found an open route toward the cathedral and began  my approach. 

St. Barbar’s Cathedral was founded in 1338 by miners.  Miners were wealthy.  St. Barbar’s conveys this fact very effectively.  The coats of arms of the prominent mining families are painted on the impressive ceiling and mining and minting are depicted in the frescoes on the walls.   The church took nearly 600 years to finish, so the age of the artwork in the church ranges from 1380 (a statue of Mary) to stained glass windows from the early 1900’s.  Several paintings from the 1400’s are of special interest due to both their age and their excellent condition.  The church is beautiful. 

After visiting the cathedral, I wandered through Kutna Hora taking in the medieval sites.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday so most of them were closed, but the outsides were still unique.  I walked by a particularly old looking church that I cannot seem to find any information about, but I remember reading a sign on the outside that dated it to over 500 years old (I wish I’d taken a picture of the sign so I’d have more information).   I also popped my head into the Itialian Court.  The is a palace that is the location of the first Czech mint and a main residence of the Czech kings in the 1400’s.  It has a lovely courtyard. 

Across the street I took a picture for a cute family eating ice cream in front of Karel Havlicek’s (1821-1856) statue.  He was the founder of Czech political journalism and was critical of the Hapsburg rulers.  He came up with the line, “you can try to bribe me with favors, you can threaten me, you can torture me, yet I will never turn a traitor.”  This became a popular motto later on when the Czech people were protesting communist rule.  (source:  Rick Steve’s Prague)

I wandered back through the town’s winding streets toward the train station.  Things became less picturesque as I exited the old town, but I made it back in time to catch the train back to Prague, pick up my stuff from the train station locker, and get to the bus station to catch my bus back to Vienna, along with AB, as it turns out.  I then hopped on the subway to the Vienna Airport and went through security.  I had a very early flight that would have made getting a room pointless (why pay for 4 hours?) so I just stayed in the airport rather than getting a room for the night.  Luckily, the Vienna airport is sort of awesome.  It has excellent benches for sleeping and free wifi.  The next morning, I was on board a plane headed for Sofia.