By: Dario A. Gutierrez
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| Bone mound |
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| Bone chandelier |
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| Bone crucifix |
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| Skull with war wound |
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| Bone chapel decorations |
In my fourth visit to Prague, yes, I love this city mainly
because of great beer and amazing food, I decided to finally break the cycle,
try something new and find another Czech destination that I could enjoy as much
as Prague. Although, I probably chose the second-most touristic destination in
the Czech republic, the number of tour buses full of people following a guide
with an open umbrella (the most common site in Prague) was reduced to just a
tiny fraction in Kutná Hora.
I will
describe my trip in the exact chronological order, which definitely makes the
most sense when visiting this town. Woke up early at 6 AM in Prague, which
meant that there was no Lokal and/or Roxy visit the night before (these are my
favorite spots to first get original check beer and then dance the night off
with mainly locals). After walking to the ugliest and most run-down train
station for a capital city in Europe, I am sure you agree with me on this one
if you have ever visited, I took a train in the direction to Brno for about 150
crowns round trip, and I arrived in Kutná Hora, 1.5 hours later. The main train
station for this town is about a 50 minute walk to the town, so this is also
not very attractive for most tourists; however, just 10 minutes into the walk
you run into the most bizarre thing that I have ever seen: the Sedlec Ossuary.
This is a small chapel inside a cemetery where someone in the 16
th
century decided to take about 40,000 skeletons from people that died during the
Hussite wars in the 15
th century, and use all the bones to decorate
the chapel, from chandeliers to the coat of arms of the family that funded all
this, and large femur- and cranium-composed mounds (see the pictures). Although
the information leaflet mentioned that these bones were cleaned and bleached,
there was a very strong pungent smell that made me start to feel a bit sick, so
I had to get out of there after about 20 minutes.
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| Bone coat of arms |
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| View of St. Barbara Cathedral from St. James church |
The Hussite wars are very important for the history of this
town and the Czech republic, so I’ll tell you what I know about them, although
I am not an expert. The Hussite wars were for the Czech people (Bohemia and
Moravia at that point) like a pre-Thirty year war, which would take place in
all of Europe the following century, a war between Protestants and Catholics
that almost destroyed Europe. Jan Huss was the Martin Luther of the Czech
people; he denounced the Clergy of charging money to absolve sins and was
against preaching solely in the Latin language, he decided to denounce these
people and start a new more spiritual anti-materialistic Christianity. The
catholic clergy did not like this and they decided to kill him, making him a martyr
for his followers that called themselves the Hussites. The Hussites then
decided to take it out on the Catholics and started a war that lasted many
years were they ransacked and destroyed all catholic cities and especially
cathedrals in the kingdom, that included Kutná Hora, which has around 6 catholic
cathedrals/churches. Of course the Catholics defended themselves, and I am not so
sure but I think at the end they won the war. Well the bones at this chapel all
came from people fighting this religious war and as you can see some of the
skulls show wounds of how these people were killed.
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| Skull with war wound |
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| Steak in cranberry sauce with bread dumplings |
Just a five-minute walk from the bone chapel you get to see
the Cathedral of Our Lady, this was for me just like any other Gothic cathedral
in Europe and thus not very impressive. A 40-minute walk from there finally
brings you to this picturesque town. The food here is so good, that I ended up
eating lunch twice, despite the fact that I was not hungry the second
time.
My favorite Czech dish, by far, is
a slow-cooked steak in an amazing pumpkin and cranberry sauce served with
traditional Czech bread dumplings (see pic), this dish is really good in Prague
but in Kutná Hora it was splendid; of course you always wash everything down
with a few 0.5L of Pívo. My favorite Czech beers are Kozel and Gambrinus, yes
ok the famous Pilsner Urquell is good, but only if poured the right way and
served fresh like in Lokal.
I should
point out that in Kutná Hora a half a liter of beer is between 19-23 crowns, about
0.70 cents euro. I guess the Czech people would start a revolution if the price
of beer was ever changed, they are the highest consumers of beer in the world
at 170 Liters per person per year. Somewhere in Prague, I am not sure where, I
read the Czech proverb: “There is no better beer than beer”, I think it says a
lot about the Czech love of beer.
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| 1515 "the last supper" |
After the meat and beer dream-like experience I walked to
the cathedral of St James which although from the outside, again looks like any
other European cathedral, when going inside you run into some amazing hidden
gems consisting of sculptures, altars and paintings, all dating from the 15th
and 16th century, like this last supper painting from 1515, which I
think is quite contrasting to how Leonardo Da Vinci depicted the same event,
see for yourself and let me know your thoughts. The highlight of this town,
however, was what I could see next from the courtyard of St James Cathedral, the
St. Barbara Cathedral. I have now traveled pretty much all over Europe and this
is by far the most architecturally beautiful cathedral I have ever seen (check
out the pictures). As I was standing there taking pictures I heard a Czech
guide tell some tourist that this is by consensus of all the Czechs the most
beautiful sight of their country, and I agree 100%. The gothic cathedral, with
its splendid unique roof, sits next to a large Baroque building on top of a
hill planted with a vineyard, and besides a forested mountain with a creek going
through the middle of both mountains. The contrast between all these elements
made it one of the most beautiful sights that I have ever experienced, and not
just in the Czech Republic. I then walked to the cathedral, took more than
enough pictures, drank young/new wine from this vineyard (for 5 crowns a cup),
and finally took photos of the town from the cathedral.
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| In front of St. Barbara Cathedral |
I should point out at the end that Kutná Hora was an
important silver mining town that made it be very influential in the kingdom of
Bohemia. It was an arduous competitor against Prague to become the capital of
Bohemia, and was at numerous points in history the most important city in this
kingdom. My day ended with more amazing food and beer before returning to
Prague. If you are ever in Prague or Europe, you have to go see this place.
