Kutnohorsko Kolínsko Turistická Oblast

St. Barbara´s Cathedral

Kutná Hora

St. Barbara’s Cathedral, a jewel of late Gothic architecture and one of only four cathedral-type buildings in Bohemia, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist as well as the historic centre of Kutná Hora.

The splendour of this building still testifies to the glory and wealth of the “silver” Kutná Hora and the deep piety of its creators. The temple is dedicated to the Virgin Barbara, an early Christian martyr who is invoked as a helper to those in need, intercessor for a good death and patroness of all those with a dangerous profession, especially miners. It was the miners who contributed most to the flourishing of the medieval town and the construction of the cathedral, which they dedicated to their patron saint.

The origins of the building, which date back to the second half of the 14th century, are connected to the famous Parler stonemasonry workshop. Many other brilliant artists and builders, including the famous Benedikt Ried, followed in its footsteps. He is the author of the so-called emporium (the inner gallery within the cathedral), the concept of the unmistakable tented roofs and, of course, the circular vaulting of the main space of the cathedral. In the middle of the 16th century, when the Kutná Hora mines ran out of silver, the construction had to be temporarily halted. The following centuries brought a wave of reconstructions and inventory replacements, especially in the Baroque style. The current appearance of the church dates from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when it was extensively restored. St. Barbara’s Cathedral is a varied gallery of especially rare Gothic frescoes and stone art, nevertheless all generations have left their mark there. .

The main nave is dominated by a Renaissance pulpit with Baroque panelling. The learned and pious Jesuits furnished the cathedral with a number of Baroque altars, statues and paintings. At the beginning of the 20th century, the generous donors of the neo-Gothic restoration had a large part of the windows decorated with stained glass, on which the painter František Urban depicted a number of purely Christian motifs, as well as important events of his time. This tradition was followed with so far the last artistic achievement in 2014: a stained-glass window with the motif of St. Agnes of Bohemia, which decorated the last clear window in the south nave of the church.

You can attend services at St. Barbara’s Cathedral:

  • on the Feast of Corpus Christi at 9:00 a.m.
  • at the Royal Silvering at 9:30 a.m.
  • on New Year’s Eve at 4:00 p.m.
  • every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (except the 1st Tuesday of the month)

You can visit St. Barbara’s Cathedral all year round, even on weekends. Current opening hours as well as other important information can be found here.

Tickets are available at the ticket office of the Information Centre at the St. Barbara’s Cathedral in Kutná Hora or online here. Tickets are available at the ticket office of the Information Centre at the St. Barbara’s Cathedral in Kutná Hora or online here. Don’t forget to find out more about the 3TOP ticket deal, which offers a tour of St. Barbara’s Cathedral (including the emporium and the Corpus Christi Chapel), a tour of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist and the Church of All Saints (the ossuary) in Sedlec.

The building is accessible for people with all kinds of disabilities, who will also pay a reduced entrance fee upon producing a relevant certificate; reserved parking for these individuals can be found in Kremnická Street.

Mapa

V blízkosti
najdete

Italian Court

Kutná Hora

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

Kutná Hora

Chapel of All Saints with ossuary

Kutná Hora

Jesuit College with the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region

Kutná Hora

The Kačina Chateau and grounds

Kutná Hora

Dačického House

Kutná Hora

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Discover the surroundings

St. Bartholomew´s Church and town walls complex

The Decanal Church of St. Bartholomew is both the dominant of Kolín as well as the most valuable monument of this historic town. The early Gothic church was founded in the middle of the 13th century and its construction was carried out in several stages by orders of King Přemysl Otakar II and his successors, the last construction works were done at the beginning of 14th century.

The whole area of the so-called Cathedral Hill, which was revitalized extensively in 2018–2020, is truly unique. You will find here most notably the ossuary with rich ornamental decoration or the building of the former parish school, which houses an interactive exposition. The bell tower is a place where the cathedral treasure is kept and a lapidarium can be found. From atop it also offers a view of the town centre. The green baileys invite you to have a walk and relax in the herb garden or in the rosarium.

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Jesuit College with the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region

It was Giovanni Domenico Orsi, an important builder of Jesuit buildings and an Italian architect born in Vienna, who was the author of the project of the early Baroque building. The partially preserved plans show that he originally chose an E-shaped plan and the current F-shaped plan is the result of the project never being fully completed. After Orsi’s death, Carlo Lurago continued the construction and the College was completed in 1750.

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Museum of folk architecture

The Museum of Folk Architecture in Kouřim is the only open-air museum not focused on a single region in the Czech Republic, which collects construction monuments from the territory of Central, Eastern and Northern Bohemia, thus offering a direct comparison of various regional types of folk architecture from the 17th to the 19th century. There are fourteen larger residential and farm buildings, which are complemented by several smaller monuments.

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