The late Gothic jewel and one of the four cathedral-type buildings in Bohemia is together with the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and St John the Baptist and the historic centre of Kutná Hora inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
Kutná Hora is historically known for silver mining, thanks to which it became the economic centre of the Bohemia at the beginning of the 14th century. The lands on which the mining settlements, and later the town itself, were established belonged to the Cistercian Order. They had their monastery with a cathedral in the nearby village of Sedlec. The citizens of Kutná Hora wanted to break free from their influence. They decided to establish a Brotherhood of Corpus Christi, which took the first steps towards the construction of a new cathedral, the splendour of which would reflect the glory and wealth of the silver Kutná Hora as well as the deep religiousness of its citizens. They bought lands outside of the town borders from the Prague Chapter. For the construction, they chose a place in the vicinity of the miners’ St Barbara's chapel. The chapel was preserved near the cathedral until 1626.
One of the old legends of Kutná Hora tells a story about three miners who worked in the mine and mined silver. An accident happened, and the mine collapsed. The miners' lamps went out, and they could not get back to the surface. Because they were religious, they turned to their patroness, Saint Barbara. They prayed and begged her for help. One miner wished to see the light of day and the sunshine at least once again. The second one wanted to meet his family one more time to say goodbye. The third one begged for one more year of life. Saint Barbara answered their wishes and led them out of the buried mine. The first miner came out and died right after he saw the sunshine. The second miner died at home, surrounded by his family. The third miner lived for one more year, during which he had a vision that Saint Barbara was calling him to come to her. He followed her to a rocky promontory, where the cathedral stands today. There he saw a tree with Saint Barbara standing in front of it. The miner cut down the tree and carved out a statute of the saint. All miners used to go to her to pray and ask for protection. In the course of time, a chapel, and later this cathedral, were built here.
The cathedral is dedicated to an early Christian martyr, Virgin Barbara, who is worshipped as a helper in need, as an intercessor for a good death and a patroness of all people who practice a dangerous profession, especially miners. It was the miners with their hard and perilous work who contributed the most to the boom of the medieval town and to the construction of the cathedral, which they dedicated to their holy protectress.
Barbara was a daughter of a wealthy pagan merchant Dioscurus. She lived almost two thousand years ago in the then Roman Empire. It was a time when people loved luxury and amusement, the rich lived inconsiderate lives, and hardly anyone cared for others. But Barbara wanted to live a life that would not be empty. She searched for something which would give her life meaning. She met Christians who were persecuted at the time and were dying for their faith. Barbara decided that she wanted to belong only to Christ. However, her father was afraid of Christians, and when he found out that Barbara had herself baptised, he locked her in a tower. She did not let herself be discouraged and instead started meditating on Christ to gain strength and endure all the sufferings for him. She studied the teaching of Christ and found comfort in him. She even managed to organise punching a hole in the tower where she was imprisoned to create a third window. Barbara wanted the three windows to remind her of the Holy Trinity in whose company she wished to live. In a desperate attempt to break her belief, Dioscurus brought her to a court, which had her tortured; despite that, Barbara did not give up her faith. Her father was so angry that in the end, he beheaded her himself. They say that when Barbara was dragged to the place of execution, the hem of her clothes brushed against a bush. A small twig got stuck on her skirt. When she died, white flowers bloomed on this dry twig. These flowers serve as a reminder of her bravery, innocence and faith.