Rosie and The Operator are out for a day trip. We are driving to Kutna Hora, a small town about 45 mins outside of Prague. It is a small, pretty village famous for its many churches and its chapel made of bones.
The Sedlec Ossuary, (Kostnice Ossuary in Czech, just to confuse the tourist) is on the outskirts of Kutna Hora. and we started our sightseeing here today. It was a frosty, -3c and the cemetery that surrounds the church was waiting for the sun to touch it and melt the frost sitting on the gravestones.
Rosie had read that this chapel was decorated in bones….she was certainly not expecting the sight that greeted her eyes upon entering!
Rosie just didn’t know where to look first! Bones lined the walls with skulls sitting in the middle of them like some macabre flower head. A Crucifix made out of bones was above the entryway with bones emanating out like parched white rays of light. Giant chalices made of bones sat in the niches filled with skulls. It was very weird in a satisfying symmetrical, OCD kind of way. Someone certainly had an eye for detail alright which deeply resonated with Rosie.
Descend into the chapel and there above your head is the center piece ‘de resistance’ in all its bony glory. Garlands of bones emanate out from this glorious…bone chandelier. Rosie kids you not. So what is this all about. Rosie will fill you in.
The Sedlec Ossuary is the final resting place of over 60,000 people, interred forever, as per Rosies snaps, in bony, decorative form. According to legend the Czech King sent an Abbott to Jerusalem on a holy mission to bring back soil from the holy mound of Golgotha, the site of Jesus Christ crucifixion.
The idea of this was that when he got home with the dirt, it was to be sprinkled on the grounds of the Sedlec Cemetery. It was a cunning ploy because, after this was done and word got out…everyone wanted to be buried in the holiest of holy ground of this cemetery.
By the end of the 15th Century the cemetery was at bursting point due to an extra 30,000 bodies piling up from pestilence and war.
A blind monk from that time had a brainwave and was the first to start stacking the bones of the dead into the orderly stacks and decorations you see today in the chapel.
When the stacking of the bones was complete, and all the bones neatly stowed, as if by divine gratitude, the monks sight was restored.
In large sub chapels are the giant stacks of bones that tower over you in a huge pyramid style shape. You can tell that everyone has been placed neatly and tidily by the hand of the blind monk as they are packed so tight.
There were a few other people in the chapel wandering around and a beady eyed guard was lurking around the floor making sure you didn’t stash a skull or two in your handbag. The atmosphere was quiet and reverent…almost as if there were a thousand or so eyes watching you.
One almost forgets looking at the soft pastel colors of the alter area (as there are no bones in this niche), that you are actually in a chapel….because you cant help but be distracted.
Out we stepped into the cool crisp air and walked through the outskirts of the small town to the Cathedral of the Assumption, (a ticket to the bone chapel pretty much got you free entry to all the other churches in town)….of which there are many…and no, Rosie did not visit them all.
The Cathedral of the Assumption is a large, grey concrete block looking affair that was built in 1290. It was pretty non descript compared to the delicate beauties we have seen so far.
Inside too, the church was plain but was painted a delicious soft lemon colour which seemed to absorb the light and make the interior of the church so luminous and bright. Don’t, be fooled by the plain face this church presents Rosie, there is a beauty within each one of these arches that just takes your breath away.
This beautiful Holy Relic is from the 14th century and is so delicate in the goldsmithing work carried out on it, it is one of the finest golden treasures of the Czech Republic.
The other niches in the nave also came into their own with beautiful paintings and soft natural light, all the best to see them in.
Standing by the front doors of the church is a medieval collection box, it is divine in its design and execution and the lock…love it. Its black, handmade folds of iron reminds Rosie of layers of pastry on a pie.
Rosie and The Operator hopped back in the car and drove the short couple of kms into the main town of Kutna Hora. Well we tried too, our GPS was sending us up one way streets and round and round the back streets we kept circling.
What a nightmare! We ended up self navigating our selves from good old fashioned….road signs. Who would have thought! Was like stepping back in time.
We parked outside the Church of St Barbara sitting high on the hilltop of Kutna Hora. Our ticket to the Bone Chapel also got us entry into this church as well, it is the biggest, so, why not.
St Barbara’s was impressive. Gothic flying buttresses and heaps of grand detail on the exterior. Inside, it didn’t disappoint either, with plenty of hidden nook and cranny chapels. This church had the most beautiful deeply coloured stained stained glass windows…..
….and Rosie’s favourite, the beige corridor. The light and shadows playing on the architecture is just stunning.
At the back of the church was the oldest wall of frescoes and the plainest….these are wall paintings still original from the 14th century depicting images of everyday life in the town and the afterlife.
Kutna Hora has so many beautiful churches and a pretty townscape built off the back of silver mines which were discovered in the region in the 13th century. This was a wealthy wee town that minted its own coins and was second only to Prague itself for importance in the 15th century.
Below is a statue of a miner in the Church of St Barbara…who incidentally is the patron Saint of Miners and from whence the church was dedicated to in this town of miners back in the day.
The town also boasted beautiful palaces where the Kings had residences outside of Prague. In 1541 the towns richest silver mine was hopelessly flooded and the towns fortunes went into decline with war and fires over the centuries. Not a lot of new development was done through this time, which helped the town retain its quaint original buildings.
Stepping out of the church, we looked back over the town through the vineyards of the monastery and sniffed something spicy in the air. Could it be? Yes it was, a wee hut selling mulled wine…perfect to warm our fingers, and insides for our walk into town for lunch.
The old town is small, beautiful and quaint. It was pretty quiet today, as was the tavern where we had lunch, which suited Rosie after the craziness of Prague. It was so nice to be able to catch you breath here and quietly wander, whilst not being surrounded by other like tourists.
The Tavern where we had lunch was ‘olde worlde’ with a fab menu full of authentic Czech cuisine. It felt so good walking into the super warm room which had a huge fire blazing and stripping off your layers of gloves, scarf, jacket and hat. Your nose automatically started to run in the warmth, and it felt so cosy.
Rosie and the Operator both had a feast of Wild Boar Goulash with Cranberries and Gingerbread Dumplings. Rosie had always pictured dumplings to be small nuggets of dough floating in the stew….they are not like that at all!
They are rounds the size of cricket balls more like dense soft bread, that are sliced onto your plate. This Gingerbread accompaniment seemed weird yet was so delicious and complementary…washed down with a local beer it was a great end to the day out before we drove back to Prague.
Tomorrow is The Operators birthday and our last day in Prague. Guess what? The giant Old Town Square Christmas Market officially opens and snow is forecast!!!! We might be lucky kiwis after all and get to frolic in the white stuff. Fingers crossed.
