Kutná Hora – Sedlec: Cathedral and Ossuary

• The latest Czech entry to the ever popular Director’s Choice series.
• Tells the story of 900 years of history of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Includes details from the only ossuary in the world where human remains have been used as design elements

The Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist in Kutná 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 Blažej 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 Kutná Hora – Sedlec has it all and much more.

Radka Krejčí is the Parish Corporate Department Director of The Roman Catholic Parish of Kutná Hora – Sedlec, which manages the Cemetery Church of All Saints with the Ossuary and the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady. Since 2018, she has been looking after churches in Sedlec and elsewhere with energy, humility and love.