St Barbara Church, Kutná Hora, part 2 - Czech Blog post #17

I would love to jump in and just show you pictures of the St Barbara Church in Kutná Hora, but I really feel the need to share just a teeny bit of the town’s history first.

Though other metals, such as copper and zinc, were mined around Kutná Hora as early as the 1^st century B.C., it wasn’t until silver was discovered in the 10^th century that the town found prosperity and posterity too. 

It was during these boom years, that building on St Barabara’s Church began, in 1388. The church was named after Saint Barbara, the patron saint of all those working in dangerous professions, especially miners. The local silver mines allowed the town to flourish, and the hard-working miners helped to build the church. 

However, in the mid-16th century, the Kutná Hora mines ran out of silver, and construction on St. Barbara’s had to be temporarily stopped. It was originally supposed to be nearly twice the size it is now. I can’t imagine that! 

Over the next centuries work continued, off and on, with a lot of changes, such as going from Gothic to Baroque. Does anyone out there really know the difference?  

One of the most distinctive features, from the outside at least, are the three roof peaks, which represent the three hills surrounding Kutná Hora: Kuklik, Kaňk and Sukov.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the beautiful stained-glass windows were all painted by František Urban. They mostly show Christian themes or significant events of the time.

 

Not sure what any of these are about, but the one below has a picture of the three tent peaks from the church. 

It was a very overwhelming building and we didn’t have nearly enough time to take it all in.