Thursday 3 July 2014 Prague

Mostly Sunny 25C

We have just enjoyed a wonderful day, we caught the 8am train to Kutna Hora and went to see the Church of Bones. It was amazing inside with 4 very large piles of bones in the corners of the Ossuary, the most amazing piece was the chandelier hangng from the centre of the church roof. The story goes ….

"In the mid 14th century, during the Black Death, and after the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in the abbey cemetery, so it had to be greatly enlarged.

Around 1400, a Gothic church was built in the centre of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel to be used as anossuary for the mass graves unearthed during construction, or simply slated for demolition to make room for new burials.

After 1511, the task of exhuming skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel was given to a half-blind monk of the order.

Between 1703 and 1710, a new entrance was constructed to support the front wall, which was leaning outward, and the upper chapel was rebuilt. This work, in the Czech Baroque style, was designed by Jan Santini Aichel.

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to put the bone heaps into order, yielding a macabre result"

We then walked 3km to see the Church of St Barbara in Kutna Hora town which we had read was worth seeing. We were impressed by the size and style of it when we arrived. For a small town it is certainly an impressive Church. There was a pathway leading to it with beautiful statues along the side of the Jesuit College which gave it a majestic entry. Once inside we were given an English guide sheet of all the points of interest in the Church. The oldest piece was a statue dating back 730 years.

Both these buildings were worth the visit and we walked back to the train station (another 3.4 km) via the town of Kutna Hora and caught the 1pm train back to Prague.

This afternoon we went to a Mozart Concert at the Estates Theatre which is a beautifully ornate theatre, We sat in a box and enjoyed an hour long concert. There were 3 woodwind instruments and 2 opera singers who entertained us. When in Ptague you are constantly badgered by students selling tickets to concerts and trying to force advertising to them into your hands. I had actually book these tickets before leaving home. It was very enjoyable and lovely to have the box to ourselves.

Tonight we went to dinner at a traditional Czech Restaurant and had pork knee, with mustard and horseradish (a bit like a leg of lamb arriving at the table) and a litre of dark beer - and sausages with sauerkraut and a salad of grilled goats cheese with walnuts. It was a very interesting and tasty meal. Did not feel hungry afterwards