The S2H World Tour!: Kutna Hora

Oscar and I show off our breakfasts while on the train to Kutna Hora.

Time for another weekend away! Okay, well not a full weekend, but how about just a day trip? Sounds good to me!

Today Oscar, Petr and I made plans to go and check out one of the Czech Republic's premium attractions - the historic town of Kutna Hora. One of what I call "The Big Three", KH is one third of the ultimate trifactor of tourist magnets. The other two are Karlstejn Castle and the town of Cesky Krumlov, both of which I've already seen, so now after this trip I'm fully prepared to lead groups on day and weekend trips from the capital!

KH has an interesting history. Like Prague, it was founded about 1700 years ago, and became a Middle Ages boom town when silver was discovered beneath the town. Kutna Hora exploded in popularity as people from all over Central Europe came flocking in droves to get a piece of the silver mine action. Bohemia's mint was founded here, pumping out the first Czech currencies, and KH also later on became home to a Jesuit College and then eventually the Cathedral of St. Barbara - the mother of all Gothic palaces of worship. Various other churches and grandiose buildings sprouted up during its boom, and Kutna Hora even gave Prague a run for it's money as the dominant city for Bohemia.

But, a few simple twists in fate can seal city's fortune - or failure - forever. Kutna Hora suffered a serious of blows which would begin its decline - a devestating fire, high death tolls during The Plague, and then the ultimate clincher - the silver ran dry. Kutna Hora had run out of steam, while its sister city Prague continued to boom and grow. KH would then forever have to live in the long shadows of the almighty capital.

But, Kutna Hora has seen a bit of a reincarnation in recent years. Thanks to the booming tourist trade, KH has been put back on the European map in a big way. As an A-list Czech attraction, and only an hour train ride from Prague, KH enjoys it's new glory days as a pretty little hilltop collection of beautiful historic buildings clustered around Big ol' Barbara. Babs is currently undergoing a major facelift, but after this massive reconstruction project is finished, the cathedral will again shine on as one of Europe's greatest cathedrals. Kutna Hora is a lovely little city that's perfect just for wandering. A day trip is enough time to see the whole thing, and around every corner is another ideal vantage for getting that perfect photo.

But, as grand as the cathedral and the town are, it's neither of these, actually, which are real draw for tourists. As beautiful as they are, it's a more...morbid?...site that brings in the numbers. May I introduce you to The Ossuary Chapel of All Saints. :-)

Known affectionately by the locals as "The Bone Church", the ossuary is definitely one of the most...ummm...unique...tourist traps that I've ever come across. Located just outside of Kutna Hora in the 'suburb' of Sedlec, the ossuary is a tiny little monastery that got creative when it had a midieval 'storage problem', if you will... When The Plague struck and the bodies began piling up, the locals looked at the already full local cemeteries and scratched their heads at what to do. It wasn't until a local woodcarver with a penchant for bone art that a solution was found. The imaginative woodcarver decided to take the bones and adorn the entire inside of the ossuary with art and sculpture - made entirely from the skeletons of The Plague victims.

And boy did he have a lot of material to work with! It's estimated that he used 40,000 bones (or was it the bones from 40,000 skeletons? I can't remember...) Either way, it's a helluva lot of bones, all over the place. There's long swooping garland-like strings, lanterns and chandeliers, chalices and coats of arms - all made from bones. There's also four ginormous bone pyramids in the corners of the ossuary (leftover material?) It's a ghoulish sight, and is how I imagine a home would be decorated if The Addams Family got together with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Tres bizarre!

Us three boys had a lovely afternoon, one part crazy bone-obsessed wood carver, one part f-ing huge gothic cathedral, one part long lunch and coffee break. It was a sunny, albeit quite windy, day, and we really enjoyed our weekend excursion. I'd definitely bring out-of-town guests here, and it's even fun to do the whole "What-if-the-silver-hadn't-run-out?" game and imagine a modern day Kutna Hora still competing with Prague for Bohemian dominancy. Fun stuff! ;-)

A statue outside a monastery on the outskirts on Kutna Hora that's currently undergoing restoration.

The Ossuary Chapel of All Saints. It looks so cute and small from the outside that you can't tell it hides such ghoulish treasures on the inside!

Wow! It's a ginormous chandelier made entirely out of bones! (It's also claimed that this chandelier contains at least one of every kind of bone in the human body.)

Stare at this for too long and dark thoughts will start to creep in...beware!

I bet this guy was really good at Arts & Crafts class when he was in school!

Morticia Addams would've loved this!

Bones bones and more bones!

Wow! Entire bone garlands strung from one side of the chapel to the other!

One of the four bone pyramids to be found inside the chapel.

This is quite pretty actually.

Petr and Oscar hanging out in one of the town's squares.

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it! Look how grumpy Oscar looks! It's like he's thinking "Petr, get your f-ing finger off my bloody face!"