Kutna Hora

The town of silver and gothic architecture

Without doubt the town of Kutna Hora in central Bohemia is a must-see destination for anyone visiting the Czech Republic. It lies just 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) east of Prague and is a town with a long and fascinating history. In the 13th and 4th centuries the site became increasingly famous for silver deposits which drew miners and production facilities that would eventually account for as much as a third of all the silver production in Europe.

Kutna Hora, was once the second richest city in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The former wealth of the town is today reflected in the variety of architectural monuments and in the preserved structure of the town center. The tour of Kutna Hora will not only take you to St Barbara’s Cathedral (the patron saint of miners), the Italian Courtyard, and the Czech Museum of Silver but also to many beautiful gothic, renaissance and baroque townhouses.

You will also visit one of the most interesting burial grounds in the world: the Sedlec Ossuary- unique “Bone church”. This church is decorated with the bones of more than 40,000 people who died in the plague and the Hussite wars. The bones are piled in four pyramids, arranged into a chandelier, and the Schwarzenberg Coat-of-Arms. Kutná Hora has been on the UNESCO list of cultural heritage sites since 1995.

After discovering Kutna Hora’s treasures, we can have a lunch break in an authentic local restaurant with tasty food and the best beer in town.

A tour to Kutna Hora can be combined with a visit to the Český Šternberk castle that is has been owned by the Sternberg family for the last 800 years, the current owner, Zdeněk Sternberg still lives there. A tour of the castle, during which you can visit 15 richly appointed rooms is furnished in the style of various historical periods. A good opportunity to learn about important members of the Sternberg family and to catch a glimpse of their way of life.