Europe 2019 - Day 31 (Part 2)

6 June 2019, Thursday 

After walking about 200 km (I exaggerate) and all my food digested, we finally found the car. On to our next destination, the Sedlec Ossuary or Church of Bones - a memorial site and final resting place of 60,000 people. As we were entering there was a cemetery just outside, which was part of a Cistercian Monastery founded in 1142, one of the first foundations in Bohemia. The ossuary is part of the Church of All Saints, built in the 14th century in the high gothic style. Architecturally it is a gothic charnel house with an upper chapel and an underground ossuary. The cemetery was extended in the 14th century during great epidemics which saw about 30,000 people buried here. During the Hussite wars, another 10,000 bodies were buried here. 

At the end of the 15th century the cemetery was partially reduced and bones from abolished graves were moved into the ossuary. Around this time (15th century) there was a legend of a half blind monk who patiently arranged the bones and skulls into pyramids in the ossuary; after this work he regained his eyesight. And what a sight to behold! The Church of Bones is not meant to be a celebration of death, but rather a reminder of the equality of humans before the throne of God.

Nearby, there is the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and St John the Baptist (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). It was built around 1290-1320 using funds obtained from the sale of silver deposits found on the monastery lands. It was originally built with French design, but was destroyed during the Hussite Wars and was rebuilt again using both Gothic and Baroque styles. Whilst the monastery was abolished in 1783, both churches survived, with the Cathedral still holding regular services. We also saw a former baroque convent turned into a tobacco factory in 1812 and is now a tobacco museum, nearby. I bought some miniature skulls as souvenirs (how macabre!) and a skull ring for myself as a souvenir for my rock n’ roll 

soul. 

We stopped at a nearby cafe to have another beer (Kutna Hora lager again). Then Zanna drove us back to Prague and to her flat. She lives on the ground floor, and therefore has a garden in front of her flat. It is a really big garden, you can plant trees there! Luckily she loves gardening. She has 2 huge orange cats brought from Latvia. They had ticks. 

Then we went to a nearby place for pancakes. Here I had my first Pilsner. I think I would’ve killed myself if I didn’t have a Pilsner in the Czech Republic. If I’m not mistaken there is even a town called Pilsner in the Czech Republic from whence the beer was originally brewed. Anyway, I liked it. Not too bitter and not too strong.

Then Zanna drove us back to our hostel, we said heartfelt goodbyes and that was the end of another eventful day in Europe.