Kutna Hora

Today I had a NYU day trip to Kutna Hora. The town is famous for its silver mines, a cathedral built to rival that of St. Vitus in Prague (near the Castle), and the bone church. We boarded the bus bright and early at 8:15 am, and were on our way. Around 2 hours later, we arrived at St. Barbara's Cathedral, which is a late Gothic Cathedral considered to be one of the most beautiful churches in the country.

 St. Barbara's Cathedral

Next up, we went to the Italian Court (Vlassky dvur) with its Royal Mint where the famous Prague grosches were minted. We had another tour of the area and even saw a demo of how they make the silver coins.

The Italian Court

After that, we were on our own for lunch. A group of us had lunch at a Czech / Mexican place called Harmonia. I had a burrito there (tortillas, striploin, cheese, beans, eggs, and jalapenos with sides of salsa mexicana and refried beans). Then we made our way back to go on the silver mines tour. We toured the Hradek fortress, and explored the underground mines. It was around 40 m underground and very dark. We suited up in white, long jackets and helmets, and with our heavy duty flashlights climbed down the stairs leading into the mines. The mines were dark, damp, and narrow. There are areas that the miners had to crawl on their hands and knees to get through. We only went through the regular tunnel-like paths, and although at some points I had to walk sideways, there were very few places I had to bend downwards (although I'm sure many others did have to often!).

Walking down the path in the mines...

When we got back up ground, we went on our way, at last, to the "bone church". Named the Chapel of All Saints (also known as the Ossuary Chapel), it was rebuilt in baroque style by J. B. Santini at the end of the 14th century. It was decorated entirely with human bones which were arranged into decorations and pyramids by a half-blind monk in 1511.

 The "bone church"

Like the bone chandelier?