We also visited Kutná Hora. I loved the Sedlec Ossuary, but what exceeded my expectations was the church of St. Barbara. What a masterpiece!
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| Kutná Hora |
This postcard was sent by Ondrej
Kutná Hora developed as a result of the exploitation of the silver mines. In the 14th century it became a royal city endowed with monuments that symbolized its prosperity. The Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to influence the architecture of central Europe. These masterpieces today form part of a well-preserved medieval urban fabric with some particularly fine private dwellings. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/732/
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| Church of St Barbara |
Saint Barbara's Church is a Roman Catholic Church in Kutná Hora (Bohemia) in the style of a cathedral, and is sometimes referred to as the Cathedral of St Barbara. It is one of the most famous Gothic churches in central Europe and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. St Barbara is the patron saint of miners (among others), which was highly appropriate for a town whose wealth was based entirely upon its silver mines.
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| Church of St Barbara |
Construction began in 1388, but because work on the church was interrupted several times, it was not completed until 1905. The first architect was probably Johann Parler, son of Peter Parler. Work on the building was interrupted for more than 60 years during the Hussite Wars and when work resumed in 1481, Matěj Rejsek, Benedikt Rejt and Mikuláš Parler, assumed responsibility.
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| Church of St. Barbara |
The original design was for a much larger church, perhaps twice the size of the present building. Construction, however, depended on the prosperity of the town's silver mines, which became much less productive. So, in 1588, the three-peaked roof had been completed, and a provisional wall was constructed. A little later it was occupied by Jesuits who gradually changed the structure into Baroque style, though parts still remain in Gothic style. - in: wikipedia
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| Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec |
The church was built first in the Gothic style around 1300 as one of the first High Gothic buildings in the Kingdom of Bohemia and as the first church in the kingdom resembling French Gothic cathedrals. It was built on the place of an older church and was a part of the Cistercians Sedlec Abbey, which was the oldest Cistercian abbey in the Czech lands founded in 1142. The abbey was burnt down by the Hussites in 1421 and the church became a ruin for the next two centuries.
In 1700, the abbot of the Sedlec Abbey Jindřich Snopek decided to rebuild the old church. The reconstruction was conducted by the architect Pavel Ignác Bayer. After three years Bayer was replaced by Johann Santini-Aichel, who had worked for the Cistercians already in Zbraslav. He completed the reconstruction of the church in his original style called Baroque Gothic.
Although the church was rebuilt in the early 18th century his eastern part with side chapels, choir and transept should have preserved its original appearance (from outside). - in: wikipedia
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| Sedlec Ossuary |
The Sedlec Ossuary (Czech: Kostnice v Sedlci) is a small Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých), part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel.
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| Sedlec Ossuary |
Four enormous bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. An enormous chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault.
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| Sedlec Ossuary |
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