I see dead people.

Hazy, lazy Kutna Hora.



It is strange how one anomalous aspect of a town can totally flavor your visit. Although, at one point in time, Kutna Hora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutná_Hora) was actually in competition with Prague for capital status--now it is a sleepy town that is known to many by its odd little Ossuary, or the Bone Church. Before I dive more into that eerie experience, let me tell you a bit about Kutna Hora.

Although now it seems the small town has a shadow of sleepiness shrouding it. This city, as I said, was once worthy of supremacy. Prague persisted and prevailed, but this eager little brother gave her a scare.

In the 1300s, Kutna Hora saw something shiny--Silver.

The town went berzerk, and unlike the slow mammoth of Prague, shot up in size and prosperity at rapid speed. On the surface, this resulted in fast power and wealth. However, just like the gold rush in the American west, this speed couldn't last for long. The city was slapped up so quickly that it lacked any order, merely size. The new business class that was formed, were up to their necks in riches, yet lacked much to put in their head. The rest of the city was employeed by the silver mines in one way or another, not really providing for a stable job market. Not able to keep up their own pace, it was difficult to withstand the challenge of the plague, wars, and fire. So today, Kuntna Hora stands squinting over into the beautiful countryside, wiping his sleepy eyes...still hitting the snooze button.

It is very odd to see a city full of beautiful churches and buildings that are completely vacant. Even the mines had to be rediscovered, with nearly a hundred meters left untouched for hundreds of years. Quite skeletal for a city--it's no surprise that many remember it for its skeletons.

First, the mining adventure. We all donned white coats and helmets to squeeze through the winding pathways and chilled corridors--dripping with water and rocks.



Part of a courtyard that used to hold the currency supply...I just liked the secret door.


Because I know are all waiting anxiously for the morbidity, here are pictures of the bone church. Please hold on until the end, I am curious about your reactions. Onward...

Skulls were stacked in piles, on shelves, and mounted on the wall...


Even words were written in bones...


It was a bit disturbing...


This chandelier has at least one of every human bone in the body.


Angel with Skull=creepy


Piles... and piles and piles...40,000 people's remains.


Anticipated for months, the ghastly gaping only lasted for about twenty minutes--but after I couldn't stop thinking about it. However, at the same time, I was in complete disbelief at what I had witnessed. I have never been that close to a dead body--not to mention 40,000 of them. Admittedly, I grazed my finger over one of the skulls. The bones just sit out, unprotected by glass or barriers...

My numbness was in part, disbelief, yet also a form of conflict.

Was this disrespectful? The bodies were first unburied, only then to sit, rot, and finally be displayed for all to see? On one hand, it is complete sacrilege. A morbid mockery of death and a disruption of the peace. The eerie piles of bones of all who have been forgotton left out to see....and even touch. Heads torn from bodies and scattered and shattered....It seems wrong.

On the other hand, it is said it is meant to be a tribute to the dead. Prompting people to look past the bones as unimportant remanants of life, mere cages for the soul. The ostuary creations more respectful than mixed, mass graves--artistic even. One tour guide pointed out the equality of it all--noble or pauper, young or old, male or female--all bones were mixed regardless of status. A symbol of the equalling quality of death.

I don't know what to make of it. The haze of Kuntna Hora just amplified my numbness...if you are still reading...what do you think? What does the body symbolize? If this is the wrong way to treat bodies--reconsider typical burials. Perhaps an expensive wooden coffin with gold and pillows is in some way obscene--too focused on the body and its exaltation and preservation. Cremation--less body oriented or a crime against that person? Or look to strict Jewish burial traditions--the most extreme being buried in merely a shroud (or a simple wooden coffin) to have your energy return back to the earth more quickly.

And that Jewish cemetary in the previous entry...hell, its only monument is a Tesco superstore.

What to think? I am not sure.

But, as always, as long as you are thinking...you are heading in the right direction.

(Budapest stories to come...)