Big Church and Church of Bones near Kutná Hora - Czech Blog post #16

The journal of my trip to the Czech Republic is winding down.

Our last day there, we rode an hour to the historic town of Kutná Hora, known as a center for medieval silver mining and as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Our first stop was in the village of Sedlec just outside of Kutná Hora. Also known as the Bone Church, the Sedlec Ossuary is filled with over 40,000 human bones, all arranged into macabre decorations such as chandeliers, garlands, and even a coat of arms. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside, but you can Google pictures of it.  

The story goes that, in 1278, an abbot from Sedlec brought back dirt from Golgotha in the Holy Land and spread it over the local cemetery. When people found that out, they all wanted their loved ones to be buried there. 

The cemetery started to grow because of that, but things got out of hand when Europe was hit by various wars and plagues over the next two centuries. Finally, they built the church, which had an upper and lower level. Because the lower level was below ground, the skeletons from the cemetery could be “buried” there.   

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was hired to put the heaps of bones in order. Apparently, he let out his creative side when he turned every bone in the human body into artwork.

A short walk down the street is the Cathedral of Assumption of our Lady and St John the Baptist. 

This Baroque Gothic church is also an UNESCO World Heritage site, but since I already said so much about the Bone Church and I was able to take pictures in this other, bigger church, I won’t bore you with facts. I’ll just show you pictures. 

It was pretty impressive, and I do wish I remember what all these things were, or had the energy to find out.