5/25 Saturday
Tour to Kutna Hora and the Cathedral
of St. Barbara, The Ossuary and the Cathedral of The Assumption of Mary and
John the Baptist. Again, we have a nice ride through the countryside, this time
on the train. It’s a little hectic to start, the station number is only
announced ten minutes ahead of leaving. We get a little lost, then we’re ok.
The walk from the station to the town is a little raggedy, along a main street,
not the touristy area, but interesting. We arrive first at the Cathedral of The
Assumption, etc. It’s one of the first cathedral-style buildings in eastern
Europe. It’s a lovely gothic cathedral. We pay extra for a walk up into the
rafters, right under the red tile roof, into a gallery along the clerestory,
with good views of the church organ and the altar. Then, we walk a block away
to the Ossuary, or Bone Church. A lovely small church with a cemetery. A monk
took some of the bones from the murdered monks of the original 12th
century monastery, destroyed by the Hussites, and as he arranged them into 6
pyramids, he regained his sight. Now the church is decorated with as many as
40,000 bodies worth of bones, in elaborate chandeliers, altarpieces, piles,
garlands, wreaths, covering nearly every surface in the church. It’s quite a
sight.
We walk through the town along a
woodsy park to the great Cathedral of St. Barbara, majestically situated at a
crest overlooking the surrounding fields. This is one of the finest examples of
high gothic architecture in CZ. It’s especially interesting because the walls and
stained glass windows are decorated with works from various eras, the frescos
and paintings are not a uniform style, but reflect the works done through the
ages of the Cathedral’s existence.
We stop in a garden café for a
sandwich, and a regional favorite, Kofola, a jagermeister flavored soda. The
city center is a UNESCO heritage site; it’s a beautiful representation of the
historic architecture.
Getting the train home is
interesting, including my trademark fall-like-a tree onto the slippery
cobblestones getting to the station (survived unscathed). We have open tickets
for the train, as do several hundred other people, from the looks of it. We
manage to get on, but for a while it seems that we will be stuck standing in a
mosh pit of a ride for an hour, until at a second stop most riders depart and
we find seats.
Back in our neighborhood, we explore
a new block and find a stylish Greek restaurant, slightly above our typical
price range, but still affordable and fun for us. We have sardines, lamb and
rose retsina.
2 Videos Included
May 25th, Prague, Church of Bones at Kutna Hora Part 1
May 25th, Prague, Church of Bones at Kutna Hora Part 2
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