Our tour didn't start until 12:30 so we slept in and had breakfast outside in old town square. We made our way to Republic Square where the bus was picking us up.
During the hour and 15 minute ride the tour guide would share some history and facts about Prague and Kutna Hora. Not only was he speaking in English he would also repeat what he was saying in Czech and Spanish. We later found out he speaks 7 languages fluently.
We arrived into Kutna Hora around 2ish. Our first stop was the bone church, Sedlec Ossuary. It was one of the most unusual and unique chapels we have ever seen - artistically decorated by human skeletons. It it estimated that more than 40,000 skeletons were used to construct it.
Back in 1278 the King of Bohemia sent the abbot of Sedlec Cistercian Monastery to Jerusalem. When he return he brought with himself a jar of soil from Golgotha and sprinkled it over the cemetery - this was known as the "holy soil". Soon people all over the region wanted to be buried in this cemetery thus it had to be expanded. Around 1400, a gothic church was build and the lower level was to be used as a ossuary for the mass graves dug up during the construction to make room for the newly dead. It wasn't until 1870 a woodcarver was employed to put the bone heaps in order. Some people might think this is a scary place but these people wished to buried in a holy place which is why they went to Sedlec in the first place.... now their bone are right in the middle of the chapel.
St. Barbara's church was next. The church received it's name from the patron saint of miners, Barbara, and it one of the most famous Gothic churches in Central Europe. Inside on the alter was a wood carving of the last supper - this was actually done out of one piece of wood.
After our time in St. Barbara's church we walked into town. Kunta Hora was built on silver mines and was probably the riches town in the Czech Republic in the Middle Ages. The tour guide pointed out some buildings and structures that were leaning/sinking indicating the town is somewhat caving it from all the mining that took place underground.
We looped around to an overlook where we meet with a view of St. Barbara's church.
The next stop was the former site of the royal mint, Wallachian Court, which was responsible for converting the silver from the mines into coins. During the 13th century the town greatly advanced due to the silver mines. By the end of the 18th century the mines were abandoned and the building was used for other purposes - town hall, municipal school, hospital. It is now a permanent exhibition of minting.
Our guide took us through the exhibition and shared some interesting facts about the life of the miners and process of minting...
On average Kutna Hora miners only lived to 36 because of the conditions they were exposed to. They were considered the hardest working profession but their rembersemnt did not reflect this. To give you an idea of their daily labor the miners would have to travel to the bottom by sliding down multiple tunnels - this took about 45 minutes. After grabbing the basket of silver, the miners made their way back up on ladders - which took 2 hours. They did this for 10 hours a day.
Our guide took us in a room where there were coins displays throughout the centuries. He also spoke about the men who minted the coins - this profession got paid much more than the miners, 200 coins vs. 7 coins a week, but they also were expected to mint 2,000 coins per day. Because of the constant loud hammering they were exposed to on a daily basis they would be deaf after their first year on the job.
We had some free time after our time in Wallachian Court so we grabbed a bite to eat before making out way to the bus back to Prague.
Our Beer Spa appointment was at 8:30 that evening in basement of Hotel Bernard.
The spa was small - max 4 people but we were the only two during our time. Our masseuse, Milan, showed us the direction of the changing room where we disrobed into nothing but a sheet and slippers. Milan guided us into the bath area where the tub for two was waiting for us. He explained the mixture of hops and beer oil he was putting in the hot tub, filled up our beer glasses from the tap on the wall and left for the next 30 minutes.
The bath was HOT but luckily we had our beer in hand to cool us off. The Bernard beer we were drinking comes from a Czech family brewery founded in 1597. To distinguish their beer from others in the Czech market they choose to make traditional unpasteurized beer which bring out its fullness and bitterness.
Milan knocked on the door 30 minutes later and it was time to relax in next room. We laid in the bed wrapped up like a cocoon for another 30 minutes.
The last part of the spa experience was our massages.
Before we left we received a certificate of the beer spa completion and a complementary Bernard beer.
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