Kutna Hora, a town that lies an hour outside of Prague, is a town that is not just home to a bone chapel but it is also home to a great part of Czech history. This town used to be the economic power house of the then called Bohemia Kingdom. It was the sight of sliver mining, and because it became so prosperous, the town was able to attract the attention of many Bohemian kings. If the silver mining industry had not died out, Kutna Hora may have very well been the capital of the Czech Republic instead of Prague.
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town of Kutna Hora on a clear (cold) day
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Now that you've had your Czech history lesson, it's time to move on to the bone chapel. There are approximately 40,000 bones and skulls that lie within in this chapel. Interestingly enough, I believe (if memory serves me correctly) there are bone chapels in Portugal and Rome that hold many more bones and skulls than this one does. One of those chapels has at least 80,000 bones and skulls in it. Anyway, these bones and skulls aren't just simply laying all over the floor in piles. They have been put together to decorate the basement of the chapel. There's a chandelier, a family crest, a bone monstrance (that's for all my Catholic friends and family) among many other things. It's not as creepy as it sounds; it really is more fascinating and intriguing. Have a look:
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| Chandelier |
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| Family Crest |
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Monstrance
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If this is what 40,000 bones can do, can you imagine what 80,000 must look like?
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| Just chilling (literally) with the skulls |
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| After visiting a few other sites in the city, we finished up with lunch. This is Wild Boar Goulash with "dumplings". Pretty tasty! |
I went to the one in Rome a few years ago. It was really pretty, once you got over the fact that it was human remains. I am not sure about other one's but in Rome it was a great honor for the monks for their bones to be used.
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