Page 686 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

684  CENTR AL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Excursions in Bohemia 3 Kutná Hora

The sights that attract most visitors away from the capital are 70 km (45 miles) east of Prague.
* 21,000 £ @ n Palackého
Bohemia’s picturesque towns and castles, and its famous spa náměstí 377 (327 51 23 78).
resorts. The castle at Karlstein, for example, stands in splendid ∑ kutnahora.cz
isolation above wooded valleys that have changed little since After deposits of silver were
Charles IV hunted here in the 14th century. Further south, found here in the 13th century,
the historic town of Český Krumlov retains a medieval Kutná Hora evolved from a small
atmosphere. Still popular as a therapeutic retreat, the mining community into the
spa town of Karlsbad is located in the leafy Teplá valley second most important town
and offers a welcome respite from Prague’s crowds. in Bohemia after Prague. The
Prague groschen, a silver coin
that was in circulation all over
Europe, was minted at the
Italian Court (Vlašský dvůr),
so-called because Florentine
experts were employed to set
up the mint. Strongly fortified,
the Italian Court was also the
ruler’s seat in the town. In the
late 14th century, a palace was
built, containing reception halls
and the Chapel of St. Wenceslas
and St. Ladislav. They can be
visited by guided tour.
Kutná Hora’s Mining
Museum, housed in a former
fort called the Hrádek, and the
splendid 14th-century Gothic
Karlstein Castle, built by Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century Cathedral of St. Barbara are
also worth visiting.
2 Karlstein Chapel of the Holy Rood in the
Great Tower, where the crown
Karlštejn, 25 km (16 miles) SW of jewels were once kept, has 4 Karlsbad
Prague. Tel 311 68 16 17. £ to
Karlštejn (1.5 km/1 mile from castle). gilded vaulting studded with Karlovy Vary, 140 km (85 miles) west
Open Mar–Nov: Tue–Sun. & 8 glass stars. At one time, the of Prague. * 54,000 k £ @
obligatory. Chapel of the Holy Rood: chapel held 129 panels painted n Lázeňská 14 (355 32 11 76).
Open Jun–Oct: Tue–Sun. & 8 by Master Theodoric (1359–67), ∑ karlovyvary.cz
obligatory and by advance reservation one of the greatest painters of
only. ∑ hradkarlstejn.cz Charles IV’s reign. Some panels Legend has it that Charles IV
have been restored and can discovered one of the sources
Karlstein Castle was founded now be seen in Prague’s of mineral water that would
by Charles IV as a country St. Agnes’s Convent, along make Karlsbad’s fortune when
retreat and a treasury for the with other medieval art. one of his staghounds fell into
imperial crown jewels. The
present structure is largely a
19th-century reconstruction
by Josef Mocker. The original
building work took place
between 1348 and 1365,
supervised by the French
master mason Matthew of Arras,
and after him by Peter Parler.
You can still see the audience
hall and the bedchamber of
Charles IV in the Royal Palace.
The central tower houses
the Church of Our Lady, with
its faded 14th-century wall
paintings. A passage leads to
the Chapel of St. Catherine,
whose walls are adorned with
semi-precious stones. The The three steeples of Kutná Hora’s great Cathedral of St. Barbara
For hotels and restaurants see p688 and p689

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