Kutnohorsko Kolínsko Turistická Oblast

St. Stephen´s Church with the bell tower

Kouřim

For seven and a half centuries, St. Stephen’s, the First Martyr’s, Church in Kouřim is an architectural as well as spiritual dominant of the town.

History of St. Stephen’s Church dates back to the very beginning of Kouřim’s history. The exact time of its foundation is still unknown. Remains of reused Romanesque blocks were found in the masonry of the building, which most probably came from the building of the older church. It existed even before the foundation of the medieval town, the oldest written record of which dates back to 1261.

After 1270, the main and south naves were fully completed, and it was probably not until the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries that the top floors of both towers were erected. Medieval history of St. Stephen’s Church is not sufficiently known due to the lack of extant written sources. The oldest surviving record of it dates back to 1334, when the building was damaged by a fire that engulfed the entire town. At the beginning of the 15th century the interior was decorated with valuable wall paintings. ,

For more information about the church and its opening hours, visit the website.

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The Kolín Synagogue

The Kolín synagogue is the largest synagogue built in the Czech Republic until the 18th century, and outside of Prague it is the oldest and most valuable monument of its kind in the country. It was built on the site of an older wooden house of prayer as early as the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. The inscription of a date on the memorial stone inserted into the eastern façade is the evidence. –

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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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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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