Kutna Hora Travel and Tourism Guide

Kutna Hora is a nice town. I felt far removed from the lively city of Prague... which is natural since it is a one hour ride via train. There are a handful of sites to see while visiting Kutna Hora: Alchemy Museum, Cathedral of St Barbora, Hradek and Czech Silver Museum, Italian Court, Jesuit College, St James Church, and of course Sedlec Ossuary (I like to call it the bone church). When the stores are open, you can easily spend and entire day or more walking the streets. However, you can see all the sites in one day. Be prepared to walk... as it is a bit of a walk from the train station, but nothing too bad!

Lonely Planet Guide says: Kutna Hora once marched in step with the capital, and with little help from fate, might even have stolen its crown as the heart and soul of Bohemia. Enriched by the silver ore that ran in veins through the surrounding hills, the medieval city once enjoyed explosive growth, becoming the seat of Wenceslas II's royal mint in 1308 and residence of Wenceslas IV just under 100 years later. But while boom-time Kutna Hora was Prague's undisputed understudy, the town tripped out of history when the silver mines began to splutter and run dry in the 16th century; a demise hastened by the Thirty Years' War and finally certified by a devastating fire in 1770. While the capital continued to expand, its sister city largely vanished from sight.

Kutna Hora was added to Unecso's World Heritage List in 1996.