Kutná Hora is just an hour’s drive away from the big city of Prague and it makes a great side trip if you are already in the area. The main attraction of Kutná Hora is the old city center which contains several monuments which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. There several here but I don’t think we have enough time to visit all of them, so we focused on the Church of Saint Barbara instead. These monuments are a result of the wealth the city got from silver mining. What’s more, the church itself was so good, that it became the inspiration for churches in the region.

Like I mentioned, the church was built as a result of the wealth of Kutná Hora and in fact, it was meant to rival the more famous churches nearby, in particular, the Cathedral of Saint Vitus in Prague. Curiously, enough, the church that is standing now, isn’t as large as a statement church would have been. I wasn’t sure if there was a reason for this but it wasn’t as large as I thought it should be. Either way, they made up for it in pure gothic elegance. The Church of Saint Barbara is one of the best examples of gothic architecture in Europe. One look at the photos and you can see why.

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