Cultural monuments in Kouřim and its surroundings

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Archdeacon's Church of St. Štěpán is the main landmark of the square, but also of the whole city. It was built at the same time as the city in the 1960s as a three-nave basilica and is an interesting example of the so-called Burgundian style. It is unparalleled in its beauty and interesting blend of Romanesque and Gothic style. The three nave is closed by pentagonal closures and two massive towers rise above them. Both were originally higher and were connected on the top floor by a covered bridge. Despite numerous fires, the temple has been preserved almost in its original form. Inside, the walls are fitted with an interesting gallery of fifteen Renaissance tombstones from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. In front of the Church of St. Štěpán there is a statue of Jan Nepomucký by an unknown author from 1715.

Belfry

The Gothic-Renaissance bell tower, together with the Church of St. Stephen's main landmark of the city. This 34 m high prismatic building was built in 1525 by the Italian master Philippi and the first signs of the Renaissance style appear in Kouřim. Today's appearance was impressed by the neo-Gothic reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was raised by another floor with associated windows and clocks and covered with a high and complex roof. It is known mainly for its bells, which are hung in a curious way - heart up. Of the original four bells, only two have survived to this day. The Štěpán bell weighing over 1,000 kg and the Marie bell weighing about 700 kg. The Kouřimští zvoníci association is, among other things, striving to obtain the third Apolena bell, which has been missing from the Kouřim bell tower since the Second World War. 

Church of St. Trinity

Cemetery with the church of St. The Trinity was founded in 1591, when the old cemetery at the Church of St. Štěpán. The church is remarkable especially for the fact that the Gothic and Renaissance style was used in its construction. Today, the church is furnished with Baroque furnishings, as the original Renaissance burned down during the Thirty Years' War.

Santini Chapel

The small chapel of the Virgin Mary Help of Christians stands in the area of the former medieval execution site "Na Stínadlech". It was built in 1727 by Jan B. Santini in memory of five monks burned here by the Hussites in 1421. It is an excellent example of Baroque symbolism.

Linden trees at St. Vitus in Stara Kouřim

These lime trees grow near the chapel of St. Vitus on the fortified settlement in Stará Kouřim (Kolín district). Baroque chapel dates from 1724, in its present form was modified in 1863. It is likely that until then were in the immediate vicinity and they planted lime trees, their estimated age is 157 years. On January 25, 1983, these trees were declared memorable.

Museum of the Kouřim region

The Museum of the Kouřim Region is located in the former old town hall, it is the result of the late Baroque reconstruction of the older Gothic town hall.
In the museum we can find an exhibition of remains from prehistoric settlements and Slavic settlements. Along with them, we can see a model of medieval Kouřim. An important exhibit is the Czech Chronicle by Václav Hájek of Libočany from 1541 or the book of city rights from the 16th century. The memory of the famous natives of Kouřim, to whom the whole hall is dedicated, is not left out either.
From the exhibition of the latest archaeological discoveries in the Kolín region, the most important discovery is the skeleton of a girl of about twelve, dated around 1100 from a burial ground uncovered on Kouřim Square in 1997.

Kouřim lions

The sculpture Kouřim lions from the period after 1200 comes from the now non-existent church of St. Jiří. Its original is placed in the lapidary of the National Museum in Prague (in 1901 it was donated to the National Museum by the Dean of Kouřim, František Handrejch), and a copy in the Museum of the Kouřim Region in Kouřim. The sculpture consists of a pair of lions on a stone plinth, on the back of which are the paws of a third animal. It is made of local marl by a master who was very well acquainted with creation in the northern Italian and alpine region. Based on an archaeological survey by Miloš Šolle, it is a remnant of the base of a pulpit, baptistery or armchair.

Museum of Folk Buildings

The Museum of Folk Architecture in Kouřim is located about 1 km from the city center. It was established in 1972, originally as a rescue regional open-air museum of folk architecture objects from the floodplain of the water reservoir on the Želivka River. The first part of the open-air museum was opened in 1976. The current main program later became a selection of basic regional types of folk architecture from the Czech Republic and their presentation.

Stará Kouřim

Stará Kouřim is a hill about a kilometer east of the town of Kouřim, which was inhabited as a cultural monument (Wiki) from 1965 due to its convenient location from the late Stone Age to the early Middle Ages.
... And it's a magical place, really ... :-)

Attractions

Astronomical center of Europe

Approximately 1.5 kilometers from the center of Kouřim towards Svojšice, the 50th parallel of the north latitude intersects the 15th meridian of the east longitude. This place is the astronomical center of Europe (not geographical or geographical), to which the true solar time is connected, used mainly to determine the Central European time zone. In practice, this point is therefore significant in that Central European time is valid only and only in this single point at Kouřim, in other parts of the republic it differs depending on the distance from Kouřim. The point was precisely focused on the day of the autumn equinox on 23 September 1995. and finally confirmed by the Czech Astronomical Society in 2000. In addition to determining the exact time, it is also used to perform astronomical calculations such as determining the time of sunrise and sunset, the Moon, and other celestial bodies or the exact determination of the so-called astronomical noon.

Etymology

The name Kouřimi is derived from the real smoke, which Prince Lech signaled to his ancestor Čech to know where he had settled. (Wiki)

Resources:

www.mistopisy.cz
www.cestyapamatky.cz
Wikipedia
www.botany.cz