Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist
Sedlec –
Kutná Hora
A unique UNESCO monument – the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist in Sedlec near Kutná Hora is the convent church of the former oldest Cistercian abbey in Bohemia. Together with the Sedlec ossuary, this church forms a wholesome complex of the oldest part of Kutná Hora. The cathedral was built between 1290 and 1320 and combines North French Gothic cathedral architecture with German elements.
After the Hussite invasion in 15th. century, the cathedral remained in ruins, yet had such a monumental impact that in 1681 it was named “Splendissima Basilica” – the most magnificent basilica. At the turn of the 17th 17. and 18th centuries the cathedral was rebuilt by the Cistercian order in the Baroque-Gothic style of Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl. He wove unique self-supporting building elements into the building – a vault called “the Czech sail vault” (česká placka) and a spiral staircase. After the dissolution of the Sedlec Monastery by Joseph II and the establishment of a tobacco factory in its former buildings, the cathedral began to serve as a Roman Catholic parish church.
In the church we can find precious artistic monuments, such as paintings by Peter Brandl, Michael Leopold Willmann, Jan Krystof Liška, etc. The cathedral has an accessible first attic, through which it is possible to go up to the choir of the west façade. The church treasury contains one of the most precious jewels of Central Europe – the original Sedlec monstrance. According to recent findings, it is one of the oldest surviving Gothic monstrances in the world.
Tickets in Sedlec cannot be purchased directly at the monuments, but only at the Sedlec information centre at Zámecká Street 279. Ticket office closes 15 minutes before the monuments close! For more information about the cathedral, tours and opening times, visit the website.
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