Kutna Hora (Czech Republic) is a city that has existed since the 13th century. It was founded in the place where the deposits of silver were found, and for almost 400 years it was considered the treasury of the Czech Republic. There was even a mint, where they minted coins. Kutna Hora was so famous and rich city that it competed with Prague for the right to be the capital of the Czech Republic.
Interesting fact! When the “silver rush” raged in Europe, Kutna Hora received the title of privileged royal city.
Kutna Hora is located in Central Bohemia, in the Central Bohemian Region, 60 km east of Prague.
Today Kutna Hora is a small town with an area of just over 33 km² and a population of about 22,000 people. But this “town” in the Czech Republic is visited by a much more tourist than any other UNESCO monument.
Why is Kutná Hora so interesting and what sights can you see here? This will be discussed further: we will not only talk about the most significant places of the city of Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic, but also post their photos on the site.
Top Historic Sites
Kutna Hora is a real open-air museum. Of particular interest are the numerous cathedrals, which in their Gothic architecture have no analogues not only in the Czech Republic, but also nowhere else in the world. The old city and now retains a unique medieval look, here every street and every building has its own history. The historical center is very compact, it can be leisurely walked around, admiring the architectural monuments.
Plague columns are found in many cities in Europe, in Kutna Hora it stands in the center of a small Wenceslas Square.
The foot of the 16-meter column is decorated with numerous statues of saints, and its invariable Virgin Mary crowns it. The monument is made in the Baroque style.
The plague pillar was built at the beginning of the 18th century, when an epidemic of the bubonic plague was raging. The townspeople hoped that he would protect them from a contagious disease.
In accordance with the initial draft of the XIII century, the Vlachsky courtyard was to become a defensive structure, but then its purpose was changed. A town hall, the residence of the kings, a school, and a forge for minting coins were built in the courtyard. Just like the mint that issued the Prague pennies, the Vlašsky courtyard is mainly mentioned in the history of the Czech Republic.
Now in the Vlašsky courtyard there is a museum telling about the history of the royal mint. Visitors can even watch the process of making money: with the help of medieval tools, the master minted souvenir coins.
A part of the interior is available for inspection, for example, the hall where the king held audiences, a chapel with original folding altars of the 15th century. There is a museum in the basement, in which the instruments of torture of the Middle Ages are presented as exhibits.
There is a special attraction in the courtyard: a fountain with a bronze figure of a miner. Typically, tourists rush to take photos near the fountain in memory of Kutna Hora, and some also try to attract wealth here. There is an interesting belief: to become rich, you need to sit with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your shoulder so that it falls into the miner’s tray.
- Address of the Vlašsky Dvor: Havlichkovo namesti 552/1, Kutna Hora 284 01, Czech Republic.
- Admission: CZK 85 for adults, 45 for children and students.
The attraction operates seven days a week according to the following schedule:
- April-September: from 9:00 to 18:00;
- October and March: from 10:00 to 17600;
- November-February: from 9:00 to 16:00.
Near the Vlašská Courtyard is the Hradek fortification. Attraction address: Barborska 28/9, Kutna Hora 284 01, Czech Republic.
Hradek was erected even before the appearance of the city on this place, however, then it was a rather modest wooden building. Over time, a stone castle appeared in its place.
Now the silver museum (České muzeum stříbra) has settled here, which since 1958 has been under protection as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. Tourists are offered 2 excursions:
- “City of silver.” Introduces the history of Kutna Hora and the life of its citizens.
- The Silver Road. It offers for inspection various types of ores that were mined in local mines, as well as exhibits demonstrating how silver was mined.
Tourists are also offered to go down to the mine at a depth of 50 m, where silver was mined during the Middle Ages. Those who want to experience the role of a silver miner will go through narrow adits and see another interesting attraction – a mountain trail of the 16th century. This is a special machine that delivers ore from the mine in wicker baskets or water in leather furs.
Ticket price (CZK, Czech currency):
- I excursion: adult – 70, children and students – 40.
- II excursion: adult – 120, children and students – 80.
Advice! Visitors at the entrance are given texts describing the tour in Russian. But tourists recommend taking an excursion in English, as the guide tells much more than there is in the printout. The same tourists claim that mediocre knowledge of English is enough.
The Czech Silver Museum “Hradec” is open all days of the week, except Monday on the following schedule:
- May, June, September – from 9:00 to 18:00;
- July, August – from 10:00 to 18:00;
- October, April – from 9:00 to 17:00;
- November – from 10:00 to 16:00.
At some distance from the city center, on Rejsek Square, there is a unique attraction with a 500-year history – a stone fountain.
The stone fountain in Kutna Hora is a truly monumental structure, surprising in size and appearance. But this is not quite a fountain, but a reservoir that was used to collect and store drinking water. It was necessary because there was a shortage of water in the city – it needed a lot to produce silver. There was always water in the fountain well; it came there through the water supply from a remote stream.
Interesting! The water supply was made of wooden pipes, which served until the beginning of the twentieth century!
Initially, the height of the fountain was 4 m, on its walls were sculptures of saints. And there was a roof, because drinking water should have remained clean.
The magnificent construction of St. Barbara’s Cathedral is visible from anywhere in Kutna Hora. There is a famous attraction near the center, at the end of Barborska street.
Interesting fact! Cathedral of St. Barbara – the second largest and most significant Gothic church in the Czech Republic.
The Catholic Cathedral of St. Barbara in Kutnaya Gora was erected on the initiative of local wealthy burghers who own mining companies. It is St. Barbara that the miners and miners consider their patroness.
The construction of the temple began in 1388, and only in 1905 all work was completed: the old building was completely restored and expanded. The construction was phased, it lasted 500 years, since it was carried out with the money of the miners and was highly dependent on the profitability of the mines.
Largely due to such a long construction, the architectural style of St. Barbara’s Cathedral contains features of many eras. It should also be noted that in terms of architecture, he is a worthy competitor to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. By the way, the same architects worked on the projects of these buildings.
A gallery leads to the cathedral, on which beautiful statues are installed – a worthy reminder of the Charles Bridge in Prague.
The most original elements of the exterior of the cathedral are sculptures located in its highest part, especially on the buttress. On the walls and turrets you can see different images of fauna, flora, mythical creatures. Chimeras, demons, harpies, gargoyles, frogs, bats, flowers, winged rams, monkeys with oranges – all this from a height looks at the people walking below.
Inside the cathedral, the walls are painted with frescoes belonging to Gothic and Renaissance painting, where the main theme is silver mining and coinage. The main altar is on the second tier, which further emphasizes the originality of the cathedral. Enormous stained glass windows serve as a worthy decoration of the building – they not only amaze with their execution technique and scale, but detail the history of the city and the construction of the cathedral. All this, as well as richly decorated icon cases and an impressive organ size, cause undoubted admiration.
Advice! To take a good look at all the splendor of the internal and external decor of a religious landmark, it is advisable to have binoculars with you.
Near the cathedral is a chapel. The first floor was built under Jan Parlerge, and on the second not so long ago, a viewing platform was made for observing the amazingly beautiful landscapes.
St. Barbara’s Cathedral in Kutna Hora is operational, on Sundays from 7:00 and on holidays there are services. Wedding ceremonies are also held in the temple, and tourists are not allowed inside during this time. Any changes to the schedule are on this page: https://khfarnost.cz/cs/category/upozorneni/chram-svate-barbory/.
Attraction address: Barborská 685, 284 01 Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.
Typical Cathedral Hours:
- January-February: from 10:00 to 16:00;
- March, November-December: from 10:00 to 17:00;
- April-October: from 9:00 to 18:00.
The chapel with the observation deck is open:
- March: only on weekends from 11:00 to 16:00;
- April: from 10:00 to 17:00;
- May-October: from 9:00 to 18:00.
Ticket price (CZK):
- for adults: 120;
- for children from 6 to 15 years – 50;
- for students from 15 to 26 years old and people over 65 years old – 90;
- Children under 6 years old are free.
This church, often called the abode of Light, is located outside the historic center, in the Siedlec district. Attraction address: U Zastávky / Sedlec, Kutna Hora 284 03, Czech Republic.
Of all the structures of the late XIII-early XIV centuries that have survived to the present, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God in the city of Kutna Hora is the most massive. The building with a majestic dark gray facade was built in the shape of a Latin cross, its length is 87 m. This is the first cathedral-type structure in Bohemia, made in the tradition of North French Gothic architecture.
The interior of the cathedral is very modest. Only wooden objects attract attention: statues of saints and angels, covered with carvings with non-repeating patterns of the confessional and benches. Creamy wall decoration and sunlight coming through numerous huge windows make the room incredibly delicate, turning it into a real abode of Light.
- Entrance ticket price is 30 CZK, for children and students – 20.
- You can visit this attraction for free on the first Wednesday of every month from 13:00 to 17:00.
The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is open at such a time:
- November-March – all days of the week from 10:00 to 16:00.
In the same Siedlec district, on the very outskirts of the city, near the cemetery, there is another famous attraction – the All Saints Church with a church depository or Kostnitsa. The church, whose interior is completely made of human bones, evokes completely contradictory and ambiguous feelings: it is frightening, bewitching, but certainly does not leave you indifferent.
You can read about the history of the appearance of Kostnitsa and see this most unusual sight of the city of Kutna Hora and the Czech Republic, captured in the photo, here .
Hotels in Kutna Hora
Travelers who want to see the sights of Kutna Hora are ready to accept hotels, pensions, guest houses of the city. The popular Booking.com service offers for booking more than 30 accommodation options, and a significant part is 3 * hotels, where the average cost of a double room per night is 1368 CZK. But in 3 * hotels you can find cheaper or more expensive rooms, for example:
- Hotel U Zvonu , located on the main town square (Zvonarska 286), offers accommodation at the lowest prices – from 994 CZK for two. His rating on Booking.com is 8.5 (very good).
- In the Kutna guesthouse , also located in the historical center, double rooms are already more expensive – starting from 1223 kroons. But the rating is higher: 9.4 (excellent).
- Pension type of “bed and breakfast» Pension The Bed & Breakfast is , located within walking distance from the city center, offers rooms from 1465 SEK. Rating 9.1 (excellent).
- Hotel Garni Na Havlíčku , in the very center of the city, prices start at 1,500 kroons. Rating 8.7 (awesome).
How to get to Kutna Hora from Prague
In this small but full of interesting sights city, you can come from the Czech capital by train, bus or car.
By train, the journey takes about an hour, by bus – an hour and a half. Each of the options for moving has its own characteristics, you can get acquainted with them in more detail here.
Advice! Arriving at the railway station, the main attractions of Kutna Hora will be conveniently accessible by a tourist private minivan. He travels along the route “Railway Station – Kostnitsa – St. Barbara’s Cathedral”, the fare is 35 kroons.
A detailed route on how to get from Prague to Kutna Hora by bus, train and taxi is described in this article .
Whatever travel option you choose, it will certainly be comfortable. And Kutna Hora (Czech Republic) will meet you and show you its best attractions.
See also a video review of the city of Kutna Hora.
