Tom`s travels: Kutna Hora (16/09/2018)

After arriving in Prague I hung out with my brother for the rest of the afternoon and night and the following day, as he had to work I decided to do a day trip to the town of Kutna Hora. After heading to the train station I took a regional and reached the station of the intended destination. As it was a bit far away from the city center I decided to visit first the nearby world-famous Sedlec Ossuary, known for its macabre display of bones. As I approached the church a line had already formed to buy tickets, so I decided to stand and wait for my turn. Luckily it didn't take long and I was now inside the ossuary marveling as all other visitors. I had already seen other ossuaries, particularly those in Evora, Milan, and Naples; this one was rather particular as it featured an artistic arrangement of the bones rather than a normal religious one like in the other cases. Particularly interesting was the arrangement of the bones to form the coat of arms of the House of Schwarzenberg, and an enormous chandelier hanging from the ceiling which is probably the best known of the whole attraction. Once out I then decided to visit the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist, which was strangely set so far out of the main town in this part of the city called Sedlec. Entry was included with the ticket to the ossuary and enable me to visit the interior of this huge monument. Gothic from the outside, it featured a simple yet elegant yellow Baroque interior with a huge nave and decorated side altars. A view from the top was possible through a stair leading to where the organ was located. The church was included in the Unesco list together with the town's city center. So after exiting the Cathedral, I started to head in the direction of the core of the old located quite a bit further and slightly uphill. After reaching the main square, Palackeho Namesti, I directed myself to see the so-called Italian Court, a large palace which was modified throughout its history. It was named so because of the Florentine bankers who were summoned here after the town became famous for silver extraction during the middle ages. A reform enacted by King Wenceslaus II set this to be the only royal mint, thus terminating all others around the country and elevating the city to an extreme position of importance. As the interior featured a museum I decided to just give a look at the nice inner courtyard and admire the rest from the outside. Right outside from the palace, a large terrace provided a beautiful view of the southern part of the old town set up above a gorge formed by the Vrchlice river. From there I walked further and passed by the church of St James, which was unfortunately closed, eventually reaching a small square with the typical plague column. Not far ahead I passed by the nice Baroque facade of the church of St John the Nepomuk and entered yet another small square with an interesting Gothic stone fountain at its center. Though now open roof, it used to be covered and served as a reservoir and has some beautiful stone decorations all around it. As I continued on I then approached the immense structure of the Jesuit College, built in the Baroque style during the 17th and 18th centuries to convert the population who had previously turned to Utraquism. A terrace was built in front of it and adorned by baroque statues, this had become a nice alleyway with views over the Vrchlice valley and the vineyards covering the northern slope from which grapes a wine was produced was sold all over the town. At the end of the terrace, a low construction pops out: it is the Chapel of Corpus Christi. Originally intended as an ossuary chapel consisting of two floors, only the lower floor was completed with the rest remaining as it looks now for unknown reasons. Right next to it stands the impressive and beautiful church of St Barbara, included in the Unesco site. Despite its size and opulence, it is not the cathedral, whose seat was actually in the once I had visited in Sedlec the same morning. Its construction started at the end of the 14th century and involved an outstanding plan due to the city's richness coming in from its silver deposits. However, due to the Hussite wars and the later decline of the mines the structure never reached its intended size. Nonetheless, as I entered the monument, I marveled at its rich interior consisting of a high and extremely light gothic nave with additional Baroque features. I was also able to climb up a set of stairs which brought me up to the matroneum, right above the huge organ. From here I had an interesting perspective of the church and a small terrace granted also a view outside of the facade. After touring the building I then went out to a small yet nicely kept garden and had a great view of the church and its impressive facade. After that, it was time to go, I directed myself through the old town once more and finally reached the train station back in Sedlec from where I took the next ride to Prague.