Kutná Hora - Church of St. Barbara
The magnificent Church of St. Barbara, the work of Jan Parléř, Matyáš Rejsek and in particular Benedikt Rejt, is the pride of Kutná Hora. Its majesty has attracted numerous filmmakers; Shanghai Knights was shot outside it, while the interior welcomed the movie Caravaggio and characters from The Brothers Grimm, who feasted there.
The Church of St. Barbara is awe-inspiring from all perspectives. Some filmmakers have opted to make use of its imposing heights and complex system of buttresses, as in the case of Shanghai Knights. Others have preferred to employ for interior shoots, such as Juraj Jakubisko, in whose Bathory Caravaggio shows Elisabeth a new painting. In this case, St. Barbara’s stood in for the famous St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. The famous Terry Gilliam used the church somewhat differently; his crew set up in its Corpus Christi Chapel. The pampered General Delatombe hosts a grand feast for his friends in the mirror-filled hall.
By contrast with the custom at the time, the Church of St. Barbara was not initiated by the church but by rich Kutná Hora burghers as a grand ceremonial structure. It reflects period tensions between Prague and Kutná Hora. Its imposing position above the town has also been noticed abroad: In 1995 the church was added to the UNESCO list.
