Very exceptional building from the outside. And even so much more impressive from inside…read more Make sure you book your visit in advance during the winter time, it's really worth-visiting. We haven't booked the tour but we were lucky and met some other tourists at the location, who did, so we could join them. You'll be astonished by the wonderful wooden paintings and all the sculptures inside the Church. The entrance fee is 10 Zloty. Have a cup of coffee in the Baroc café afterwards :)

A lovely stop on a tour to Kutna Hora, I really wished I had more time here but the tour guide I…read morecame with was kinda curmudgeonly and rushed the group (and that's no fault of the cathedral). The Gothic design of the church is impressive on the outside with pointed spires, vaulted arches, flying buttresses giving it that distinctive "lacy" appearance, and on the inside with ribbed vaulted ceilings, large colorful stained glass windows and floor-to-ceiling frescoes (partially restored). Less ornate than the Milan Duomo, Paris' Notre Dame, the Cologne Cathedral, or even St. Vitus in Prague, though still very beautifully and intricately constructed. The cathedral was built in the 14th Century dedicated to Saint Barbara, patron saint of dangerous occupations, including miners, to which this silver-mining medieval town attributed much of their success. The design was created by multiple architects and craftsmen though the inner gallery and vaulted roofs are credited to Benedikt Ried. Major renovations occurred in the later centuries including the stained glass windows installed in the 20th century. Walking inside the entrance brings you to the back of the main space, like most cathedrals the center of the building contains the trancept and nave, columns then an outer aisle encircles the central portion. Alcoves with smaller altarpieces sit along the aisle. Walking around the church takes about 10 minutes, if you want to look in more detail maybe 30 minutes will do. It's a short walk northeast to other sights closer to the town center, within 5-10 minutes. Tickets are currently 180 CZK for adults, 140 CZK discounted, children/disabled 60 CZK. Combination tickets with Sedlec Ossuary (Bone Church) are available. More info and virtual tour available at: https://chramsvatebarbory.cz/en/about-the-cathedral/

Beautiful church inside and out. Yes, it's another UNESCO world heritage site. The admission price…read moreseemed reasonable and the displays on the second floor were well curated. My favorite parts were the coats of arm and symbols on the ceiling. The outside arches were so reminiscent of the York Minster, but the overall esthetic was unique.

This is definitely a place to see. I didn't find information about when it was started but there…read moreis a QR code to scan later for that information. They did ask that we not photograph the bones but clearly most people didn't listen .

Sedlec Ossuary, known as the Bone Church and is one of the most visited sights in the Czech…read moreRepublic, a chapel decorated with the bones of an estimated 40,000 people. How did they all get there? In 1278 King Ottokar II of Bohemia sent an abbot of the Sedlec Cistercian Monastery to Jerusalem; he returned with "holy soil" from Golgotha, the location of Jesus' crucifixion, and sprinkled the soil on the ground around the church. This became a strong draw for people to be buried here, and the cemetery expanded, most notably during the times of the Black Death plague and the Hussite Wars. Later when construction of a Gothic church began in the early 15th century, bones from mass graves were uncovered during construction and stored in the basement of the church. There they remained for centuries until 1870, Frantisek Rint, a woodcarver, was given the task of organizing them. The final result was a chapel with four main mounds of skulls, an impressive chandelier and a coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, all created from human bones. Currently tickets need to purchased thru separate tour operators. I went with a bus tour and stayed there for about 30 minutes in total as the church and cemetery outside is pretty small, and a distance (maybe 10 minutes driving) from the town of Kutna Hora proper. They have a strict no photos policy as of 2024 autumn, citing concerns to people posting negative comments and criticizing the display of human remains. While it is macabre in some ways, the bones were all bleached in efforts to prevent disease and well-preserved. Such an uncanny experience to walk among so many that walked before us! For more info: https://sedlecossuary.com

Walking into town from the main train station, this is one of the first sites you come upon in…read moreKutna Hora, just a little way ahead of the famous Bone Ossuary. This Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist is itself listed as a Unesco Heritage site. Walking into this cathedral, I was immediately impressed and awestruck by the towering ceilings, high arched columns, and just clean lines and symmetry. Quite a pleasant contrast from the outside view - A Baroque Gothic masterpiece! Be sure to check out the Temple Treasure Chest and walk upstairs to get an amazing view. The cathedral cinema has a 9-minute film that talks about the creation and history of the cathedral, which changed hands and functions many times over the years. A tobacco factory still exists there from one of the repurposed uses of the cathedral as it changed hands over the years - prior to being restored to use as a church. Entrance to the Cathedral is 120 CZK per adult, but for 220 CZK you can purchase a combination ticket to the three main Unesco Heritage sites - this Cathedral, The Sedlec Ossuary, and the Church of St Barbora. At this location, you can only pay cash. But at the Information Center you can pay with credit cards also. There are guided tours available also, although you can walk through freely on your own.

This church was built around 1300. It was built on the place of an older church and was a part of…read morethe Cistercians Sedlec Abbey, which was the oldest Cistercian abbey in the Czech lands founded in 1142. The woman at the information building suggested we come here before going to the Sedlec Ossuary. She said this would be a small dose of what we could expect at the ossuary and might help ease into it. She was right, I would advise starting here. There are parts of this church that were unearthed in a reconstruction that encased a number of bodies in the stones. Plus they have preserved "relics" or bones of a couple martyrs dressed to the nines--in gold and glass display coffins. Once you get past that, the church is lovely. Definitely go upstairs and view the church from above. It is worth it. It won't take too much of your day and it is a nice intro to the ossuary. Once you get back to the main street from the ossuary, catch a bus into town and see St Barbara's. It is an impressive church and grounds. You can catch a little train in town back to the main train to return to Prague if that is the way you came (and I suggest it.) You can get tickets in advance to sit in assigned seating (advised if you don't like meeting interesting people), or you can buy an open seat to come and go when it works for you. We didn't check about open first class passage, but you might, especially if there are a number of you, though the train back to Prague in the evening was much more open than the full train to Kutna Hora that morning.