Page 172 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Prague

170  PR A GUE AREA B Y AREA

5 Kutná Hora superb palace with
70 km (45 miles) E of Prague. Tel 327 reception halls and the
512 378 (tourist information). £ from Chapel of St Wenceslas
Hlavní nádraží, to Kutná Hora, then and St Ladislav, below
bus 1 to Kutná Hora-Město. @ from which lay the royal treasury,
Florenc. ∑ kutnahora.cz Italian Court: were constructed.
Open Mar & Oct: 10am–5pm; Apr– When the silver started
Sep: 9am–6pm; Nov–Feb: 10am–4pm to run out in the 16th
daily. & 8 Hrádek: Open Apr & Oct: century, the town began
9am–5pm Tue–Sun; May, Jun & Sep: to lose its importance; the
9am–6pm Tue–Sun; Jul & Aug: 10am– mint finally closed in 1727.
6pm Tue–Sun; Nov: 10am–4pm Tue– The Italian Court later
Sun. & 8 Stone House: Open as became the town hall. On
Hrádek. & 8 Cathedral of St the ground floor, you can
Barbara: Open Apr–Oct: 9am–6pm still see a row of forges.
daily; Mar, Nov & Dec: 10am–5pm daily;
Jan & Feb: 10am–4pm daily. & 8 Since 1947, a mining
museum has been housed
The town originated as a small in another building, the
mining community in the sec- Hrádek, which was origi-
ond half of the 13th century. nally a fort. A visit includes
When rich deposits of silver were a tour of a medieval mine.
found, the king took over the There is museum in the The Italian Court, Kutná Hora’s first mint
licensing of the mines and Kutná Stone House (Kamenný
Hora became the second most dům), a restored Gothic build- flying buttresses, is a wonderful
important town in Bohemia. ing of the late 15th century. example of Bohemian Gothic.
In the 14th century, five to To the southwest of the In Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná
six tonnes of pure silver were town stands the Cathedral of Hora, is the Ossuary of All Saints
extracted here each year, St Barbara, begun in 1380 by church, where thousands of
making the king the richest the workshop of Peter Parler, human bones have been
ruler in Central Europe. The also the architect of St Vitus’s fashioned into furnishings
Prague groschen, a silver coin Cathedral (see pp102–105). The and decorative objects.
that circulated all over Europe, presbytery (1499) has a fine
was minted here in the Italian net vault and windows with
Court (Vlašský; dvůr), so-called intricate tracery. The slightly later 6 Karlsbad
because Florentine experts nave vault is by royal archi tect Karlovy Vary
were employed to set up the Benedikt Ried. The murals show 140 km (85 miles) W of Prague.
mint. Strongly fortified, it was mining scenes. The cathedral, with Tel 355 321 171. £ from Hlavní
also the ruler’s seat in the town. its three massive and tent-shaped nádraží. @ from Florenc. n Lázeňská
In the late 14th century, a spires rising above a forest of 14 (355 321 176). ∑ karlovyvary.cz
Legend has it that Charles IV
(see pp26–7) discovered one
of the sources of mineral water
that would make the town’s
fortune when one of his stag-
hounds fell into a hot spring.
In 1522, a medical description
of the springs was published,
and by the end of the 16th
century, over 200 spa buildings
had been built there. Today,
there are 12 hot mineral springs
– vary means hot springs. The
best-known is the Vřídlo, which
rises to a height of 12 m (40 ft).
At 72ºC, it is also the hottest.
The water is good for digestive
disorders, but you do not have
to drink it; you can take the
minerals in the form of salts.
The town is also known for
its production of decorated
Karlovy Vary china and brightly-
The Bohemian Gothic Cathedral of St Barbara in Kutná Hora coloured Moser glass, and for

170-171_EW_Prague.indd 170 20/03/17 11:29 am