Kutna Hora

Weird name huh? We had never heard of the place until we were in Prague and reading our guidebook - in there were a few throw away lines about an impressive gothic cathedral and a strange "bone church" worth visiting! Who could resist a bone church?

The village is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is the home of one of THE most important and famous gothic churches in central Europe, St Barbara's. St Barbara is the patron saint of miners, which is pretty appropriate for a town whose wealth was once based entirely on its silver mines. In the church itself you can also find a statue of a miner, with lamp in one hand and shovel in the other. Construction began way back in 1388 but was not completed until 1905! The interior is nothing really out of the ordinary, but the exterior, especially the roof, is something to behold. The multi peaked roof looks more like some kind of giant circus tent than a church, and the myriad of gargoyles and beautiful, almost lace like buttresses are awe inspiring.

However, it was the truly bizarre Sedlec ossuary, located beneath the Church of All Saints, that made our day ! It is estimated that the ossuary contains the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, many of whom have had their bones "artistically" arranged in the form of everything from a massive central chandelier, vases, a family coat of arms, and various decorations!!!! It really is one of those things that you have to see to believe, and goes down as probably the weirdest thing we have ever seen! Didn't really have a creepy feeling whilst there, was more like an open mouthed "oh my god, can't believe what I'm seeing" kinda feeling whilst walking around the small chapel.

Back in 1278 the abbot of the cistercian monastery in Sedlec was sent to the Holy Land by his king and bought back with him a small amount of earth he had removed from Golgotha (the site of Jesus' crucifixtion). On his return he sprinkled it over the abbey cemetery. Word of this pious act spread fast and Sedlec quickly became one of the most desirable places in central Europe to be buried! That, and the thousands who died from the plague in the mid 14th century & during the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, meant that the cemetery was soon overflowing. A decision was made somewhere around 1511 that the bones would all be exhumed and used to "decorate" the church! And voila, you have the "bone church" of Kutna Hora.

Alli xxx