I recently made a nice Sunday visit to a sleepy little city called Kolin, not far from Kutna Hora in Central Bohemia.
Kolin was established by German colonists and has a rich German/Czech folk tradition that includes a strong Jewish connection. Just a block away from the town square stands the 14th century Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew and it's Gothic Tower. Designed by Petr Parlor (the same architect who designed Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral), St. Bartholomew is a beautiful sight.
Not far from the town's center (about 6 kilometers away) is a field occupied by a 19th century commemorative statue to one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven's Years War in 1757. To get to this monument you need to squeeze through a rural side street of a tiny village and off the paved road to an open field. It was hard for me to image the carnage of a war between European titans, Prussia and Austria, going toe-to-toe amid this bucolic scene of now peaceful fields. If one needs a more vivid reminder of this battle, you can visit this very field in early June for the annual reenactment of the Battle of Kolin.
-Pete
Kolin was established by German colonists and has a rich German/Czech folk tradition that includes a strong Jewish connection. Just a block away from the town square stands the 14th century Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew and it's Gothic Tower. Designed by Petr Parlor (the same architect who designed Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral), St. Bartholomew is a beautiful sight.
Not far from the town's center (about 6 kilometers away) is a field occupied by a 19th century commemorative statue to one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven's Years War in 1757. To get to this monument you need to squeeze through a rural side street of a tiny village and off the paved road to an open field. It was hard for me to image the carnage of a war between European titans, Prussia and Austria, going toe-to-toe amid this bucolic scene of now peaceful fields. If one needs a more vivid reminder of this battle, you can visit this very field in early June for the annual reenactment of the Battle of Kolin.
-Pete
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