Sedlec Ossuary

There were several attractions in Kutna Hora and nearby Sedlec that we wanted to see before leaving town.  We started walking towards St. Barbara's Cathedral and came upon the Stone House which we had read about.  It is an important example of patrician architecture of the 15th c., and has gone through many reconstructions and renovations.  It is now a museum and houses furnishings and exhibits from various eras.  Then on to St. Barbara's (patron saint of miners), begun in 1388 and not completed until 1905! Very impressive, of course.

We rode to the nearby town of Sedlec with its famous ossuary and Cistercian Church.  The history of the ossuary, as briefly as possible:  In 1278 some earth from Golgotha in the Holy Land was sprinkled on the existing cemetery, making it a popular burial ground for Central Europe.  During the plagues and later Hussite wars, many burials took place.  When bones were removed to build a chapel above, they were piled together in the ossuary below.  Later they were rearranged into the existing "bone exhibit".  Here is the Wiki description:

The chandelier

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to put the bone heaps into order. The macabre result of his effort speaks for itself. Four enormous bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. An enormous chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. 

Quite an amazing place!  We next viewed the Cistercian Church nearby--very plain but impressive.  Departure at 1:30 and rode to nearby Kolin for a picnic lunch in a park.

After lunch we decided to head north to visit the Cesky Raj and its "spectacular landscapes dotted with castle ruins," as described in our Lonely Planet travel bible. But when we arrived in nearby Jicin we could see a thunderstorm hovering over our target, and so we decided to take a pass and turned east. Good move. That led us to Trutnov (ice cream break) and then Nachod, where at 6:30 we decided to call it a day. Arriving at the town square, we spotted a fine hotel and decided to inquire. And so here we are in an upscale room (with air-conditioning!, and breakfast and Bonnie parking in their garage) for $70. We're really getting to like the Czech Republic.