Kutna Hora - Sedlec: Cathedral Church and Ossuary : Director's Choice

The Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist in Kutna Hora - Sedlec, the convent church of the former oldest Cistercian abbey in Bohemia (est. 1142), has been recorded in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1995. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of almost 900 years of history of this remarkable place, which experienced days of glory as well as dark periods of war and plague.

Today, people from all over the world come to admire the cathedral, whose current appearance was fundamentally influenced by the Baroque reconstruction performed by the brilliant architect Jan Blazej Santini-Aichel (1677-1723).

The nearby Church of All Saints then receives even more attention thanks to its Ossuary which is decorated with unique skeletal ornaments.

It is the only ossuary in the world where human remains have been used as design elements, and yet (or perhaps because of that), it carries a powerful message of memento mori. Whether you are interested in history, art, architecture or religion, the former Cistercian abbey of Kutna Hora - Sedlec has it all and much more.