Kutná Hora: A Church Day Trip from Prague
An hour east of Prague, a town that was once the second city of Bohemia and is now quiet enough to hear your own footsteps. Two of the best churches in the country, three kilometres apart, and most visitors see them the wrong way round.
Silver made this place. From the late thirteenth century the seams under Kutná Hora produced a third of Europe's silver, the royal mint moved here, and the town spent its money on buildings meant to embarrass Prague. Then the ore ran out, and nothing much happened for four hundred years. That is why the medieval town is still there: nobody could afford to knock it down.
The three churches
St Barbara's Church
A cathedral in all but name, paid for by silver miners who had themselves painted at work on the walls. 517 years to build. Three tent roofs and a forest of flying buttresses over the valley.
Sedlec Ossuary
Forty thousand people arranged into a chandelier, a coat of arms and four pyramids by a woodcarver in 1870. One small room. Timed entry, and photography is restricted.
Cathedral of the Assumption
A hundred metres from the Ossuary, and skipped by most day trips that shouldn't skip it. Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel rebuilt it in the 1700s in a style he invented himself — Gothic shapes executed in Baroque.
Getting there and getting round
| From Prague | Train from Praha hlavní nádraží to Kutná Hora hl.n., about an hour, roughly hourly |
|---|---|
| The catch | Kutná Hora hl.n. is at Sedlec, not in the old town. The Ossuary is a ten-minute walk from the platform; the old town is another 3km, by shuttle train or local bus |
| The right order | Ossuary and the Cathedral of the Assumption first, straight off the train. Then into town for the mine and St Barbara's. It saves an hour of doubling back |
| Tickets | A combined ticket covers the Ossuary, St Barbara's and the Cathedral of the Assumption. Buy it at the Sedlec visitor centre |
| How long | A comfortable full day. Six hours if you skip the silver mine |
| Also worth doing | The medieval silver mine tour — overalls, helmet, lamp, and 250 metres of fourteenth-century tunnel. Booked slots, not for the claustrophobic |
The mistake nearly everyone makes. Arriving, taking the shuttle straight into the old town, doing St Barbara's, then travelling back out to Sedlec for the Ossuary at four o'clock to find the last entry slot has gone. Do Sedlec first.
Day trips and tickets
Independent travel here is easy and cheap. A guided day trip is worth the money mainly if you want the silver mine included and the timed Ossuary slot handled for you.
Tour and hotel links go to GetYourGuide and Booking.com. This site earns nothing from them at present — they are here because they are the quickest way to check what is actually available.
Staying the night
Almost nobody does, which is the argument for it. The last trains back to Prague take the crowds with them and the old town becomes a different place — empty squares, lit facades, and a handful of restaurants with the terrace views along Barborská.