Saint Barbara's Church ( cs, Chrám svaté Barbory) is a

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Kutná Hora (Bohemia) in the style of a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, and is sometimes referred to as the Cathedral of St Barbara ( cs, Katedrála sv. panny Barbory).Kutna Hora Information
Cathedral of S.t Barbara It is one of the most famous Gothic churches in central Europe and it is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

world heritage site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. St Barbara is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of miners (among others), which was highly appropriate for a town whose wealth was based entirely upon its silver mines. Construction began in 1388,J. Chyský, M. Skalník, Vl. Adamec (1965) ''A Guide to Czechoslovakia'' (Artia, Prague) p129 but because work on the church was interrupted several times, it was not completed until 1905. The first architect was probably

Johann Parler Johann Parler the Younger ( cs, Jan Parléř, german: Johann Parler der Jüngere, ; c. 1359 – 1405/06), was a Bohemian architect of German origin from the prominent Parler family of architects, master builders, and sculptors. He was the son of fa ...

, son of

Peter Parler Peter Parler (german: Peter von Gemünd, cs, Petr Parléř, la, Petrus de Gemunden in Suevia; 1333 – 13 July 1399) was a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders. Along with his father, Heinrich Parler, ...

. Work on the building was interrupted for more than 60 years during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

and when work resumed in 1481,

Matěj Rejsek Matěj Rejsek or Matthias Rejsek (around 1445, Prostějov – 1 July 1506, Kutná Hora) was a Czech stonemason, sculptor, builder and architect of the Late Gothic style. Life Matěj Rejsek was born probably in 1445 in Prostějov (either in B ...

, Benedikt Rejt and Mikuláš Parler, assumed responsibility. The original design was for a much larger church, perhaps twice the size of the present building. Construction, however, depended on the prosperity of the town's silver mines, which became much less productive. So, in 1588, the three-peaked roof had been completed, and a provisional wall was constructed. A little later it was occupied by Jesuits who gradually changed the structure into

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

, though parts still remain in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

. The final process of repair and completion took place at the end of the 19th century, under architects J. Mocker and L. Labler. Originally there were eight radial chapels with trapezoidal interiors. Later on, the choir was constructed, supported by double-arched

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...

es. Internal points of note are the glass windows, altars, pulpits and choir stalls. Medieval frescoes depicting the secular life of the medieval mining town and religious themes have been partially preserved.

Gallery

File:Kutna Hora CZ St Barbara Cathedral front view 02.JPG, Front view File:Cathedral St Barbara - interior.jpg, Interior File:Kutná Hora-Cathedral St Barbara-interior6.jpg, Ceiling Vault File:Viribus Unitis - stained glass in Kutna Hora.jpg, Stained glass depicting emperor Franz Joseph I

References

External links

St. Barbara Church home pageHistory and photos of St. Barbara's Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Czech Republic World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic Gothic architecture in the Czech Republic Buildings and structures in Kutná Hora Tourist attractions in the Central Bohemian Region National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic

Gallery

See also

References

External links