Both UNESCO World Heritage towns, Kutna Hora and Sedlec are rich in history and monuments. Once an important seat of power owing to their rich silver reserves, the towns today draw large number of tourists for their majestic churches and charming streets.
The towns, adjacent to each other, can be easily packed into a day-trip from Prague. It takes about 2 hours from Prague and a change of trains to reach Kutna Hora. We had taken the first train, at about 9.30 in the morning, and reached Kutna Hora by 11.30. Suggest you alight at the Seldec station, complete the tour of the Seldec town, head for Kutna Hora and catch the train from Kutna Hora on your way back to Prague. Do note: The Seldec stop is a ‘request stop’ — which means, you have to press the request-stop button (zastavka na znameni) by the door, after the train gets going.
Tour of Seldec town
As you walk out of the train station of Seldec, you see the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist to your right. Although built in the Baroque Gothic style, the Church is extremely simple from inside. We walked up the aisle, and took its spiral stairs to walk into the attic, feeling like we were in a story book. It’s simple, rudimentary interiors appeared to hide a thousand secrets. It had apparently been brought down by fire in the 15th century. We felt somewhat weird standing there, and so, after a quick round of photos, left.
Now, if the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist felt weird, we sure weren’t prepared for what was waiting for us at the Sedlec Ossuary a small walk ahead. A bone church, made up of about 70,000 human skeletons, skeletons, coat of arms, altar, walls, all were made of bones. I couldn’t last there for 2 seconds. The husband and the daughter looked around and took photos while I walked around the cemetery upstairs.
The town is really tiny. Between the Church of Our Lady and the Ossuary, is the Tourist Information Office. Opposite is a small store selling basic pastries and coffee. Round the corner is the bus stop from where you can go to Kutna Hora.
Tour of Kutna Hora town
The bus takes about 30-45 minutes to reach the stop that is closest to the famous church there, St Barbara. We however, dashed to the restaurant by the Church first, for, by then, we had been famished! The restaurant, run by a family, is clean and extremely homely. The elderly lady, who helped us with the orders, didn’t understand a word of English, but communicated perfectly with her smile and the menu card. We ordered basic and were delighted with the food. The most amusing part of the dining experience was that they filled beer bottle from the beer tap! Prague, and now Kutna Hora, sure loves their beer!
Stomachs filled, we were ready to explore Kutna Hora. Started off with St Barabara Church, set in sprawling grounds. Baroque and Gothic both, the Church is sure to awe you. Its magnificent spires gives it an imposing look. From the inside too, it is as impressive. The line of sculptures on the other side tell the tales of the town from its historic times. Climb the terrace opposite the Jesuit college for a good view of the town and the Church’s little vineyard on the left slope.
Walked out of the Church from its rear. This is from where you can start a slow walk down slope, walking past the little town alongside its important administrative buildings, a museum, nice coffee/ice cream shops and pretty houses. Between clicking photos and licking our ice creams, we reached the Kutna Hora station just in time to catch the charming two-bogey train back to Prague. Don’t forget to admire the little train station. Straight out of story books! 🙂
(Want to plan a holiday in Czech Republic? We help you with the itinerary, sightseeing suggestions, places to stay, where and what to eat. Read our post — All about a Czech Holiday)