"Kutna Hora, a former royal silver mining town." Kutna Hora by Askla

Kutna Hora is an old town with well preserved buildings from the Middle Ages and the Baroque time. You should not leave without having seen the Barbora Cathedral, the most spectacular Gothic cathedral in the whole of the Czech Republic.
Other gems are St. James Church, the little castle Hradek, the Stone House, Vlassky Dvur or Italian Court and the Church of Our Lady just to mention a few. In 1995, historical centre, St Barbora Cathedral together with the "bone church" in Sedlec just out of town, was entered in the UNESCO Heritage list.
Unfortunately many of the more interesting sights were closed when I visited, since I went there in March already and that was too early of the year. But that just gives me a further reason to come back!

Kutna Hora is situated 65-70 km eastwards from Prague, and is easily reached both by bus and by train.

St James Church seen from St Barbora Cathedral.

In the Middle Ages, Kutna Hora was the second most important town in Bohemia, surpassed only by Prague. The town's importance derived from the very rich silver mines which were discovered here. The processing of silver started in 1260 and lasted until 1727, when the royal mint (started by King Wences-
las II at the begining of the 14th century) was closed. However, the mine itself run out of silver in 1558, at that time being the deepest mine in the world, 500m deep, all dug out by hand.

Legend has it that a Cistercian monk named Anton had a nap after been working hard at the monastery vineyard. When he woke up he saw three pieces of silver protruding next to his face. He left his robe ('kutna' in Czech) on the spot to mark it and reported the discovery at the monastery. When the monks investigated further they found that this was just "the tip of the iceberg". Those three silver pieces showed to be the start of Kutna Hora's days as the richest silver mine in the Bohemian Kingdom.

The Stone House.

But not all has been peaceful in the history around Kutna Hora. In the early 15th century the town became involved in the Hussite revolution and ~2.000 Hussites were thrown into the shafts of the mines by their Catholic pursuers. The town was also burnt down twice in that period, once by the each side of believers of the same religion. Well, it's always good to turn the other chin towards your enemy....

• Pros:A little town with big history.