Kutna Hora. Attractions and sights of the beautiful Czech city, in the shadow of Prague!

• Kutna Hora is located 70 km east of Prague, in Central Bohemia
• It takes 5 hours to get here from Upper Silesia
• The best attractions are the Gothic church of St. Barbara (paid), the Silver Museum (paid), the Italian court and the ossuary, i.e. the skull chapel (paid) in the Sedlec district
• Be sure to walk through the promenade of St. Barbara, with 12 baroque sculptures, it is a bit like the Charles Bridge in Prague
• City car parks are paid, but you can also find free parking spaces
• Monuments of Kutna Hora entered on the UNESCO List

Kutna Hora is a beautiful city in Central Bohemia, with a rich history, wonderful monuments and extremely charming architecture. It is located about 70 km from Prague and impresses with its wonderful pictures and valuable attractions that are worth seeing and visiting. We are enchanted by this city that grew up on silver in the Middle Ages. The more pleasantly we got to know them and with greater curiosity that this is a partner city of our Tarnowskie Góry. Both cities have very similar origins and are on the UNESCO List!

Accommodation in Kutna Hora

While visiting the city, we slept 2 nights at the Hotel Garni Na Havlíčku. Ideally located opposite the Italian court and very close to the market, it allows you to explore the charms of the city until late hours, because you can walk everywhere in a few minutes. Thanks to this, you can also drink a golden drink in numerous restaurants, which costs only 50 kc, or about PLN 8. The hotel is very quiet, just like the surrounding area, offers small rooms, but equipped with everything you need, a private bathroom with shower, coffee maker and fridge, as well as tasty breakfasts. Hotel U kata, also located close to the most important attractions, also enjoys a good reputation.

Here you will find a wide selection of accommodations. By booking your stay on Booking.com through our link, you support the development of our blog — and we thank you in advance! It helps us reach many interesting places that we later love to show you and share our experiences and information with you.

Kutna Hora - monuments and attractions, i.e. places worth seeing!

Kutna Hora is a small town, but with a large number of monuments. The advantage is that it is close to everywhere. Almost all the most interesting places are located in the Old Town, within a radius of 500 meters. You will meet quite a lot of tourists from all over the world, but there are no crowds and there is a very pleasant, intimate atmosphere. Check out the best attractions of Kutna Hora!

Church of Saint Barbara, a medieval temple built for 500 years

St. Barbara's Church is a very impressive temple of late Gothic. Beautiful both from the outside and inside. The church grew slowly, from the fourteenth century, on the shoulders of underground workers. And when silver mining ceased, construction was stopped, which is why the church was completed only in the last century.

The church was dedicated to Saint Barbara, the patroness of miners, who is especially revered in Silesia. In fact, he is a legendary figure who was beheaded by his father for adopting Christianity.

The interiors of the temple are available for a fee (180 CZK). We highly recommend it because it captivates us. The austerity of the local sandstone and the beautiful wall paintings bring to mind the magnificent English cathedrals that we love, e.g. in Chester. Unusually, you can enter the extensive choir to admire not only the sculptures and the chancel from above, but also the terrace with a beautiful view of the church gardens. After leaving the church, you can enter the strict Corpus Christi chapel. With it, you can buy local wine and climb a few stairs to a low vantage point above the vineyard. The picture from here is very pleasant to the eye!
Address: Barborská street

St. Barbara's Street resembles the Charles Bridge in Prague

This charming pedestrian street leads to the main temple of the city and somewhat resembles the famous Charles Bridge in Prague. It leads along the sumptuous white building of the former Jesuit college. You walk here with a beautiful view of the church, and at the back you can admire the Italian court and the church of St. James. It is a magnificent gallery with a wall decorated with 12 baroque sculptures. This is the most popular place to walk around. On the other hand, the gallery will move almost to the Silver Museum.

Czech Silver Museum and Medieval Mine

The museum is located in a former castle (Hradek Palace). The route of the Silver Route is divided into two parts. First, the guide tells you about the history of the city. The huge horse-driven steering wheel is the most important exhibit and at the same time an original from the 16th century, but it comes from another mine, although many similar machines worked here centuries ago. The most interesting, however, is underground. 

The heart of the museum is a former medieval silver mine, visited with a guide. Everyone gets an apron and a helmet with a helmet as part of the ticket, thanks to which you can feel special. It is a very pleasant walk deep into the earth, with interesting stories. In places, you have to bend down and even squeeze through a narrow corridor, which is about 40 cm wide and 120 cm high in the narrowest parts. If this is uncomfortable for you, stay afloat. This is still convenient compared to the medieval mining work among black silver ores. It was dangerous, but well paid.
Address: 28 Barborská Street

Italian Manor House in Kutná Hora

The Italian Court is the former seat of the rulers and the royal mint. Here, thanks to Wenceslaus II, from the fourteenth century, the Prague Penny, the official coin of the Czech Republic and Poland, was minted. It was the precursor of the Euro.

In this court, Polish magnates also persuaded the Czechs that Władysław, the son of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, should sit on the throne. He also ruled Hungary and Croatia. Later, his son Louis also reigned here. To this day, you can admire the painting in its interiors, which depicts the efforts of Poles. However, I recommend that you go primarily to the terraces under the manor, because from here you have the most beautiful view of Kutna Hora in my opinion.
Address: Plac Havlíčkovo 552/1

Ossuary, or chapel of skulls

The famous ossuary is located in the Sedlec district, where the former Cistercian abbey, which existed before the city was founded, stands. This is where the mysterious and fantastic chapel of skulls awaits tourists, i.e. the ossuary, or the ossuary or mortuary of the All Saints' cemetery church. As it turns out, this type of objects is quite often found in the Czech Republic, it is also available in Kudowa-Zdrój, but the one in Kutná Hora is definitely the most beautiful we have ever seen.

It makes a thunderous impression, and probably even more so when you visit it in the evening, with a monk, in the light of candles. The chapel is decorated with skulls and bones of 60,000 bodies. After the plague, 30,000 people were buried here, another 10,000 died during the Hussite wars. The cemetery has grown so much that it was decided to liquidate it and transfer the remains to the ossarium. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures in the morgue, but it's definitely worth seeing. We will show you photos of another author, of course with permission. The Ossuary is available for a fee, as part of one ticket with a nearby cathedral.
Address: 279 Zámecká Street, Sedlec
Tickets: 220 CZK
Thank you for the photos of the interior of the skull chapel: 
Source: Central Bohemia Tourist Board
Author: CzechTourism / Dalibor Kusák

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist

In Sedlec, near the ossuary, the Kutná Hora cathedral rises. It's powerful and available on the same ticket as the Skull Chapel. Legend has it that St. Barbara's Church was lavish enough to compete with. And I think he succeeded, because the cathedral does not arouse such emotions. But the local curiosity is the possibility of passing over its vault. An exhibition of paintings by local artists was organized in the attic. Next to it there is a free car park, and between the cathedral and the morgue there is an information centre where you can buy a ticket.
Address:  U Zastávky 280, Sedlec
Tickets: 220 kc

Other attractions in Kutna Hora

• Market Square - the central square of the Old Town, the so-called Palacki Square, with numerous restaurants and pubs
• Plague column - a stone, high column commemorates the plague epidemic of 1713, stands in the square next to the market
• Stone house - houses a museum, it is an impressive building on the street behind the plague column
• City well - a stone well from the time when there was no water in the houses, it is a work of art in itself
• Church of St. James - an interesting and impressive sacral building standing near the Italian court

Map of Kutna Hora attractions

On the map below, we've highlighted the city's attractions to make it easier for you to get there and plan your trip to this wonderful city.

Our video

I encourage you to see our account of your stay in this beautiful city.

Kutna Hora on the UNESCO List

The architecture of the city was appreciated in the world and in 1995 the Gothic Church of Saint Barbara along with other monuments of the city, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. There is also the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist in the Sedlec district.

Among the UNESCO monuments there is also a column in Olomouc, which we visited a year earlier. There we put forward the thesis that it is the most beautiful city in the Czech Republic. Kutna Hora can easily compete with it, and as it is definitely smaller than it, it certainly wins in the category of small towns!

The history of Kutná Hora, or how the city was created

Every day, as every day, nothing foreshadows a new adventure, and here a monk finds a lump of silver in the ground. This is how the history of Kutná Hora begins. Does this remind you of anything? We definitely do, a story almost taken alive from our hometown, Tarnowskie Góry. We also started with such a find, only the lucky one was the farmer Rybka. This started a silver rush in both cities.

Silver mining began here as early as in the 13th century, but its flourishing took place in the next century. The importance of the city continued to grow, competing even with Prague, until it became one of the richest cities in Europe. No wonder, after all, 30% of European silver was torn out in the basement of Kutna Hora. The Czech Silver Museum, which is located in the former castle, tells us about it. In the 16th century, water began to flood the mines, which the miners could not cope with. Today, silver is still underwater.

King Wenceslaus II, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, ordered a monetary reform. Thus was born Grosz Praski, the official coin of the Czech Republic and Poland. This silver coin was the strongest and most popular coin in all of Europe for 2 centuries. Today, it is referred to as the precursor of the Euro. And he was minted in the Italian Court in Kutna Hora. Here, too, Polish tycoons persuaded the Czechs that Władysław, the son of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, should sit on the throne. He also ruled Hungary and Croatia. Later, his son Louis also reigned here. This took place in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Other attractions in Central Bohemia

In Central Bohemia, it is definitely worth visiting other interesting places. To the north of Prague stretches the beautiful and unpopular rock city of Kokorinsko with Devil's Heads and Lids, and to the south of Prague I recommend the stunning Czech Karst and the magnificent Karlstejn Castle.

We visited the Czech Karst in cooperation with the Czech Tourist Organization. Thank you so much for inviting us.

Rent a car

Exploring becomes much easier when you have your own means of transport. You don’t have to worry about buses or taxis, and you can plan each day your way. The search box below will help you find the right car – right where your journey begins.

What's worth seeing in the area?

If you have already visited this attraction, it is also worth visiting several other interesting ones places nearby. Within a radius of 100 kilometers you will find many interesting places places that can diversify your stay in this part of Poland.

• Central Bohemia, distance: 0  km
• Kolin, distance: 10.2  km
• Pardubice, distance: 38.3  km
• Prague, distance: 62.3  km
• Hradčany in Prague, distance: 63.8  km
• Litomyśl, distance: 75.5  km
• Karlstejn Castle, distance: 77  km
• Rock city in the Czech Republic. Kokorinsko, distance: 77.6  km
• Czech Karst, distance: 85.6  km
• Szczeliniec Wielki, distance: 97.3  km