Kutná Hora

Kutná Hora, city, north-central Czech Republic. It lies on the high tableland above the Vrchlice River, 44 miles (71 km) east of Prague.

It began in the early 13th century as a silver-mining town, and from the 14th century Bohemian coins (groš) were minted there. The royal mint, which was transferred from Jihlava by King Wenceslas II, was in part of a royal residence called the Vlašský dvůr (Italian Court). Quarreling between the mainly German mining community and the surrounding Czechs, the Hussite Wars of the 15th century, and the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) ruined the city’s prosperity, and the mines were virtually abandoned by the end of the 18th century.

The magnificent Gothic Cathedral of St. Barbara, built in the town’s most flourishing period in the 13th century, resembles an imperial crown made of stone. Other historical buildings include the aforementioned Vlašský dvůr (now housing a coin museum), the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady at Sedlec, and the 14th-century St. James’s Church. This collection of buildings in the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995. The Vocel Museum contains the Kutná Hora Bible (1489) and a collection of locally minted coins.

Under the Czech National Trust for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments, Kutná Hora is primarily a tourist attraction and a market centre for the surrounding countryside. Pop. (2007 est.) 21,373.