Kutná Hora and vicinity

Italian Court
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Stone Fountain
GASK - Jesuit College
Cathedral of St. Barbara
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Sankturin House
Plague Column
Stone House
Kutná
Hora
Church of St. James
Praha
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Czech Museum of Silver Hradek
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Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady
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Ossuary
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Chapel of Corpus Christi
www.guide.kh.cz
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The Italian Court was the centre of the economic power of the
State for centuries. There used to be a royal mint there and from
the beginning of the 15th century it served as a temporary seat of
the Czech kings. The king palace witnessed numerous diplomatic
talks (the issue of Kutná Hora decree in 1409, the election of
Vladislaus II Jagiellon King of Bohemia in 1471). The current exposition reminds the process of coins production; even a part of the
former royal palace is accessible today including the unique chapel
with art nouveau decoration.
3 Church of Our Lady „Na Nameti“
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Tyl House
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ITALIAN COURT
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Church of St. J. of Nepomuk
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Ursuline Convent
Centrum ← Sedlec
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Italian Court and Church of St James (photo: MgA. Jiří Coubal)
www.khfarnost.cz
Informační centrum Města Kutná Hora
Palackého náměstí 377/5
284 01 Kutná Hora
tel./fax: +420 327 512 378
e-mail: [email protected]
www.kutnahora.cz
In addition to the church of St James, this is one of the earliest stone
ecclesiastical structures in the town, being founded in the early 14th
century. Its current appearance is the reset of rebuilding after a fire in
1470. There is the gravestone of Czech baroque painter Petr Brandl
inside the church.
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CHURCH OF OUR LADY „NA NÁMĚTI“
kontakt
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The nuns of the Ursuline order arrived in Kutná Hora in 1712. At
first, they occupied a building leased from the Cistercian Monastery
in Sedlec; over time, though, their activities required the construction
of a cloister of their own. The original project by Kilián Ignác
Dientzenhofer was only realised in part due to the lack of finances;
likewise, the original plan for a monumental church was reduced
to a cloister chapel. Until 1950, the building served as a private
girls’ school; it is now occupied by a Catholic Grammar School.
Průvodcovská služba Kutná Hora s. r. o.
Vlašský dvůr, Havlíčkovo náměstí 552
284 01 Kutná Hora
tel./fax: +420 327 512 873
e-mail: [email protected]
www.guide.kh.cz
URSULINE CONVENT
Kutná Hora
and vicinity
Tourist destination
THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF UNESCO
THE HISTORIC TOWN CENTRE (UNESCO)
Chapel of Corpus Christi
CHURCH OF ST JOHN OF NEPOMUK
The centre of Kutná Hora is an architectural treasure of European
The crypt of this never-completed gothic structure from the turn of the 14th
and 15th centuries, intended to serve as an ossuary, is one of the few fully
preserved high gothic spaces. An impressive view of the town can be seen
from the terrace.
The only baroque sacral new building in Kutná Hora was built in the 18th
significance, and as such was inscribed on the UNESCO list
in 1995 along with the Cathedral of St Barbara and the Cathedral
of Assumption of our Lady and St John the Baptist at Sedlec.
www.kutnahora.cz
century in tribute to St John of Nepomuk. The decoration represents the
so-called “Czech heaven”. The interior surprises by a pleasant soft light
and chamber atmosphere.
www.guide.kh.cz
CATHEDRAL OF ST BARBARA (UNESCO)
A unique monument of high and late gothic architecture, its
construction was begun in 1388 by the workshop of master builder
Petr Parléř. With many interruptions, construction of the monumental
church was finished only in 1905, after over 500 years. Most of the
internal ornamentation of the cathedral is also of late gothic date;
its greatest achievements is the fresco work in the chapels, with
visual motifs inspired by mining and coining; St Barbara is also the
patron of miners.
www.khfarnost.cz
JESUIT COLLEGE - GALERY OF CENTRAL BOHEMIAN REGION (GASK)
This three-storey baroque college building with transverse wings in the
shape of a reversed letter „F“ was built by Giovanni Domenico Orsi in 1667
replacing gothic houses. The place for the construction of this college was
deliberately selected in the neighbourhood of the most important church of
Kutná Hora, which was under the custodianship of the Jesuits.
The artificial terrace in front of the college was enclosed by a wall featuring
13 groups of saint sculptures, created from 1703 to 1716 by a lay member
of the order, František Baugut, also the author of the Plague Column. After
the abolition of the Jesuit Order (1773), the college was used as a military
barracks. Currently the building is occupied by the Gallery of Central Bohemian
Region, the second largest gallery in the Czech Republic. It showcases the
present modern Czech art in particular.
www.gask.cz
STONE FOUNTAIN
This late-gothic fountain was created as part of the town water system
around 1495, with carved stone ornamentation likely created from the
workshop of the master builder M. Rejsek. It is interesting not only as an
artistic work, but also as a piece of technical heritage.
PLAGUE COLUMN
This baroque monument was constructed after the town´s last epidemic
of the Black Death, which struck in 1713. Over 16 metres high, the column
was built in 1713–1715 by the Jesuit sculptor František Baugut (author of
the statues in front of the Jesuit College).
CHURCH OF ST JAMES
Originally, the church was consecrated to the Virgin Mary, but was later
changed to St James the Grater, the patron of miners. It is also known as
the „high church“ because of its 86-metre tower. Construction began in 1330,
as the first stone church in the entire town. Since it is wedged between
the Italian Court and older buildings, it could never have its own cemetery,
as is common practice in other churches. During construction, changes were
Cathedral of St Barbara
made in the design because of the proximity of mining shafts that could have
threatened its structural integrity; its second tower was never built.
CATHEDRAL OF ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY AND SAINT JOHN
THE BAPTIST AT SEDLEC (UNESCO)
www.khfarnost.cz
The monastery cathedral of the oldest Cistercian abbey in Czech
lands (founded in 1142). Together with the world-famous Ossuary
SANKTURIN HOUSE
it represents the oldest part of Kutná Hora. It was built by the
so-called “Master of Sedlec cathedral” in 1290—1320. At that time it
This originally gothic house from the 13th century was rebuilt in the
became the first cathedral like structure and also the biggest sacral
baroque style. There is a small chapel inside the tower with a beautiful
building built in Czech and Moravia. J. B. Santini-Aichl inspired
late-gothic rib vaulting. The building is among the oldest houses in the
by baroque gothic style used world unique features here like the
town. The Town Information Centre and Alchemist Workshop Museum
self-supporting arch so-called “Czech flat” and the self-supporting
reside here.
spiral staircase. The Cathedral Treasure hides the original Sedlec
www.kutnahora.cz
Monstrance, one of the oldest surviving gothic monstrances in the
world. The cinema room screens an animated film of the Sedlec
monastery history, recommended not only for schools.
www.sedlec.info
Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and St John the Baptist at Sedlec (photo: Mgr. P. Ladra)