Introduction
Kutná Hora district in Central Bohemia centres on the medieval town of the same name, once rich enough on silver to rival Prague itself — a wealth that built both St Barbara's Cathedral and the unsettling Sedlec Ossuary, the “Bone Church” decorated with the remains of tens of thousands of people. Roughly 70 kilometres east of Prague, it's one of the most complete single-day trips in the country.
Overview
Kutná Hora's medieval wealth came from silver, discovered here in the 13th century in deposits rich enough to fund the minting of the Prague groschen, the coin that dominated Central European trade for two centuries, and to make the town briefly one of the most important in the Kingdom of Bohemia. That wealth built St Barbara's Cathedral, a soaring Gothic structure funded directly by the miners' guild and dedicated to their patron saint, and the Italian Court, the former royal mint where the groschen itself was struck. A few kilometres away in the suburb of Sedlec, the same era's wealth funded a monastery whose small cemetery chapel later became something else entirely: the Sedlec Ossuary, decorated in the 19th century with the bones of tens of thousands of people arranged into chandeliers, garlands and a coat of arms. The contrast between the two — soaring Gothic wealth and an unflinching arrangement of the dead, a few minutes' walk apart — is what makes Kutná Hora more than a single-sight day trip.
Discover Kutná Hora
Silver deposits discovered here in the late 13th century were rich enough to fund the Prague groschen, a coin struck at Kutná Hora's own royal mint that became the dominant currency across Central Europe for roughly two centuries, and the wealth it generated made the town briefly rival Prague in importance within the Kingdom of Bohemia. The miners' guild funded St Barbara's Cathedral directly, dedicating it to their patron saint, and construction stretched across more than two centuries as the guild's fortunes rose and fell with the mines themselves — a Gothic structure genuinely built by an industry rather than by a monarch or a single wealthy patron, which is unusual for a building this ambitious.
Ways to Experience This Destination
A Gothic cathedral funded directly by the medieval miners' guild rather than a monarch, its construction stretched across more than two centuries and its flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting rank among the finest Gothic work in the Czech Republic outside Prague.
A small chapel decorated with the arranged bones of tens of thousands of people, including a chandelier said to contain every bone in the human body — assembled in 1870 by woodcarver František Rint from remains accumulated over centuries of plague and war burials.
The former royal mint where the Prague groschen was struck, now open as a museum covering Kutná Hora's medieval minting operation and the silver economy that funded the town's Gothic architecture.
Guided tours descend into a genuine medieval mine shaft beneath the town, following the same narrow passages miners once worked, complete with period equipment and a firsthand sense of the conditions behind the town's wealth.
Frequently asked questions
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