Many who visit the Czech Republic do so to see historic cities, such as Kutná Hora, famous for their architectural treasures, and other unique features that attract all kinds of travelers. Visitors to this particular city find themselves fascinated with the “dark” history of the place.
Kutná Hora was founded in 1142 with the settlement of the first Cistercian Monastery in Bohemia, Kloster Sedlitz. Later, the place became famous for its silver mines, and has been considered for a long time the main rival of Prague, competing with this on many levels, including economically, culturally and politically. Today, Kutná Hora makes a come back, at least as a “dark” touristic attraction, mainly due to the Sedlec Ossuary, a legendary burial place, located inside a small Roman Catholic chapel, beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in the Kutná Hora Sedlec suburb.
The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, some artistically decorating the walls and ceilings of the chapel. The largest collections of bones are arranged in the form of bells in the four corners of the chapel.
The idea to stack the bones in an ossuary came around 1400, when a Gothic church was built in the center of the All Saints cemetery, and its lower chapel was used to store skeletons from the graves unearthed during construction. All skeletons unearthed were simply stacked in the chapel by a half-blind monk of the order. The current arrangement of the bones dates from 1870 and is the work of a Czech wood-carver, František Rint.
The macabre artist created four enormous bell-shaped mounds, an enormous chandelier of bones, piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a large Schwarzenberg coat-of-arms, and the signature of Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.
The Sedlec Ossuary is one of the many Czech Republic destinations that could attract tourists keen on dark stories. Other such attractions include the Mělník Ossuary, the Vamberk Mummies at the Broumov Monastery, the Museum of Torture in Český Krumlov, the Capuchin Crypt in Brno, the Church of St. Jacob the Bigger in Prague’s Old Town, and Macocha Abyss in Karst. In Kutná Hora you’ll also find a memorial to the Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Naturally, there are Black Death tours, and other attractions related to the horrors of the Black Death in the city and the surrounding villages.
But remember to visit Kutná Hora even if you are not a fan of dark tourism. There are many attractions here that make for an ideal family vacation, including inspirational churches and monuments. Other attractions here include the Ruthardka (a romantic lane stretching along the former town wall), Sankturinovsky House, the Italian Court, and the Czech Museum of Silver. Accommodation in Kutná Hora is affordable as well, and the place is more romantic than dark.
Images courtesy, Wikipedia.