On Saturday it was off to Kutna Hora, a town about an hour by train to the east of Prague. It is a super-old city--we're talking 10th century here--and it was once a rival of Prague in terms of wealth and importance. Kutna Hora's power came from its silver mines and its prime position for trading in Europe. But the Hussite wars devastated the city. Unlike Tabor, this was not a Hussite town and it was unfortunately continually attacked by the Hussites, specifically the Taborites (these wars are much more fascinating than I thought!). Jan Zizka, the one-eyed leader who led the Taborites and the Hussites, conquered Kutna Hora briefly in 1420 and brokered an uneasy peace. But fighting broke out again, and the Holy Roman Emperor, who had made Kutna Hora his base for the war, had the town burned so that the Hussites couldn't take it. Sort of like if Lee had burned Atlanta before Sherman could get to it...oh the things we do to each other. (there is a point to this historical wandering, I promise.) The town recovered after the wars but in 1546 the best silver mine flooded, the plague loved to sweep in and kill everyone, and the Thirty Years War in the 17th century knocked off the people that the plague missed. Oh, and a huge fire destroyed the city in 1770. And then the mines stopped producing. Not a happy history.
Kutna Hora saw an awful lot of death and destruction. Where did they bury everybody? There were so many bodies to dispose of that the graveyard was soon totally full. So they started digging up the older corpses (skeletons at this point) to make room for the new dead people. They stacked the bones around the church, which came to be called the Sedlec ossuary, and then inside the church, until 1870 when a Czech wood carver had an idea. He would take the bones and use them as decorations inside the church. I think he must have been a little strange. The results of his efforts certainly are, ahem, unique. Let's get to it. Here is the chandelier, made of human bones, that hangs in the center of the Bone Church.
To give you an idea of the scale:
The chandelier is surrounded by four obelisk things with skulls and leg? bones. At the top of each obelisk is an angel clutching a skull. I am really not sure what to say about this.
The chandelier is surrounded by four obelisk things with skulls and leg? bones. At the top of each obelisk is an angel clutching a skull. I am really not sure what to say about this.
Bones hang like fringe from the ceiling...
and decorate the walls...
It was a little like being on the set of a pirate movie, or maybe a horror movie. But it is a church and they are real bones, real people. In each corner of the church are huge piles of bones in the shape of bells. I couldn't tell that they were supposed to be bells. I was distracted by the thousands of skulls.
This nifty shield is made of, yes, human bones. It is in front of one of the bells. They estimate that the bones of about 40,000 people are in this ossuary. Told you the plague and wars and fire hit the town hard.
I was disturbed by this church. I think a lot of it is my American avoidance of mortality being suddenly confronted by nameless bones arranged in a macabre, almost mocking design. I am used to having death hidden, and when it does pop up it is clean and neat and sanitized. I suppose one can consider the ossuary as being a respectful way of dealing with all the bones. I tried to think of it like that. But all the tourists with their cameras (including myself, obviously) gave the church sort of a dark Disney World feeling. It is such a curiosity that it is hard to feel terribly respectful or contemplative. It is definitely an interesting place and I am glad that I saw it, but there are so many bones and no one has any idea who they were. It is a fine line between respect for these human beings and gross awe at the human bone bells....
This is a lion on one of the groups of statues on the walkway. I liked it because it looks as though the lion went to Burger King and got a paper crown. Do they give those out anymore?
And here is the church. They began building it in 1388. It was completed in 1905. So not the quickest construction. The church was supposed to be twice as large, but with the wars and the silver mines flooding and the plague they had to curtail the construction. I took loads of pictures for my buddy Norris. He likes cathedrals.
I like the curvy staircase.
Naturally, the wood carver who designed all this signed his name and the date in bones.
I was disturbed by this church. I think a lot of it is my American avoidance of mortality being suddenly confronted by nameless bones arranged in a macabre, almost mocking design. I am used to having death hidden, and when it does pop up it is clean and neat and sanitized. I suppose one can consider the ossuary as being a respectful way of dealing with all the bones. I tried to think of it like that. But all the tourists with their cameras (including myself, obviously) gave the church sort of a dark Disney World feeling. It is such a curiosity that it is hard to feel terribly respectful or contemplative. It is definitely an interesting place and I am glad that I saw it, but there are so many bones and no one has any idea who they were. It is a fine line between respect for these human beings and gross awe at the human bone bells....We walked into the main part of the town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by the way. Here is the Church of Saint Barbara and the walkway which is purposefully similar to the Charles Bridge in Prague.
A shot from the other direction, which is not straight into the sun. So you can actually see more than dark shapes. It is a cute little town.
This is a lion on one of the groups of statues on the walkway. I liked it because it looks as though the lion went to Burger King and got a paper crown. Do they give those out anymore?Me and Ondine on the walkway.
We saw three weddings happening around the church.
And here is the church. They began building it in 1388. It was completed in 1905. So not the quickest construction. The church was supposed to be twice as large, but with the wars and the silver mines flooding and the plague they had to curtail the construction. I took loads of pictures for my buddy Norris. He likes cathedrals.
There are double arched flying buttresses and eight radial chapels. I liked the gargoyles particularly.
You approach the church from the side, but here is the front. Not as imposing as the rest of it. The front is still undergoing restoration. The entire church was being restored from 2002-2008, and it was closed for a lot of that time. But, fortunately for us, now it is fixed and open.
I like the curvy staircase. 
Here is the inside. It was not as big as I was expecting. The flying buttresses can be deceiving.
The church has a cream vaulted ceiling with shields and coats of arms painted on it. It is interesting to me how one's eyes are drawn upwards in Gothic churches like this, to the glory of God and heaven and all of that, yet signs of earthly power are placed at the very top. Paradox.
The stained glass windows date from the early 20th century. As I mentioned, the church wasn't completed until 1905. The windows have a pleasing art nouveau style and lovely colors. It is a little strange to find such "modern" windows in such an old, old church. But I like it. Most of the windows had names of businesses like banks on the bottom, which must have sponsored the particular window. Love the sunflowers in this one.
Beautiful angels and morning glories. Unlike the more traditional stained glass windows, the designs did not fit neatly into the stone tracery. They seemed to flow regardless of the sculpture.
Nice light effects on an actual 16th century wall painting in one of the side chapels. 
There were some cool old paintings on the walls. I like this one of the false door and windows
I have never seen confessionals like this.
There were some cool old paintings on the walls. I like this one of the false door and windows
I have never seen confessionals like this.
Or candlesticks, for that matter.
Ondine and I pointing at the map. Thanks again, Julie, for the pictures of us! And aren't you proud and perhaps shocked--I actually found the church on the map and knew that I was inside of it! I am getting better with my sense of direction.
It's contagious!
We headed back to the train station where a very long train carrying wrapped up Audis rolled in and stopped.
We headed back to the train station where a very long train carrying wrapped up Audis rolled in and stopped. 
At the train station I met a couple from Charlottesville, VA who were staying in Prague and had ventured out of the city for a day trip to Kutna Hora. It is always nice to see and talk to other Americans, and their suth-un accents were delightful to my ears. Julie and Ondine thought the accents were pretty funny. I told them they should hear some of my family...
My parents sent me some pictures from a Harvey Girls exhibition at the Grand Canyon. See the Movie of the Week X. The movie does a good job of reproducing their actual uniforms! Thanks to my mother and father and Virginia for their Harvey Girls information.
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