KUTNÁ HORA

kootˈnä hôˈrä, Ger. Kuttenberg, city (1991 pop. 24,561), central Czech Republic, in Bohemia. Now an agricultural center, it was an important silver-mining center in the Middle Ages. A national monument, it is a tourist draw and a market for the surrounding farm products. Its famous mint largely created the power and greatness of the medieval kings of Bohemia. In 1421–24, Kutná Hora was captured by the Hussites, recaptured by Emperor Sigismund, and captured again and burned by John Žižka. Until then a stronghold of Catholicism, it became for two centuries the center of Bohemian Protestantism. The city suffered again in the Thirty Years War (1618–48) and lost its importance after the silver mines closed in the 17th cent. Kutná Hora is rich in medieval architecture; the Church of St. Barbara (14th cent.) is a splendid example of Bohemian Gothic, and the Gothic Cathedral of St. James (14th cent.) has a tower 266 ft (81 m) high. The "Italian Court," begun in the 13th cent., is a palace once used both as a mint and as a residence of the kings of Bohemia.

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

-26840-