It is with great joy that we invite you to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the inscription of St. Barbara's Church on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This significant milestone will be commemorated with a series of cultural and spiritual events that will take place throughout the year 2025. The celebrations are an opportunity for all of us to pause, meet, and collectively express gratitude for what we have. We celebrate together with the whole town of Kutná Hora, and each of you is warmly invited to join these exceptional moments.
We have prepared unforgettable spiritual moments at St. Barbara's Church that will inspire and strengthen you for the days ahead. Our events celebrate life in the church, where every moment breathes history and the present. Thanks to our ancestors, we can experience these unique moments today. We value their work, but we look ahead and demonstrate the significance of the present moment. Come and celebrate with us the life in St. Barbara's Church!
Photo exhibition "THE ART OF LIVING: Architecture and Life in St. Barbara's Church in Photography" will be the first of these events. We warmly invite you to the opening, which will take place on May 15, 2025, at 6:00 PM in St. Barbara's Church. The exhibition will last until December 31, 2025. The photographs showcase not only the beautiful architecture of the church but also its current use and life within it.
Musical celebration will take place on September 26, 2025, at 7:00 PM, when St. Barbara's Church will host a concert by the Bonifantes Boys' Choir under the direction of Jan Míšek and organist Viktor Darebný. This choir often participates in prestigious international competitions and festivals and has won dozens of gold medals and several titles of absolute winners during its tenure.
Another significant moment of the celebrations will be the ceremonial presentation and screening of the short film "LIVING BARBORA: St. Barbara's Church as a Living Meeting Place". Come to the first screening of the film, which will take place on October 16, 2025, at 6:30 PM in St. Barbara's Church. The film will present the church as a place that has attracted pilgrims from all over the world for centuries, not only for its magnificent architecture but also as a meeting place for people across faiths.
The climax of the celebrations will be the solemn pilgrimage mass in honor of St. Barbara, which will take place on the vigil of her feast day, December 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM. This mass, celebrated on the eve of the feast of St. Barbara, the patroness of the town of Kutná Hora, will be presided over by the papal ambassador, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo. We are thrilled and honored that he accepted our invitation to celebrate the mass.
We look forward to your participation and to sharing these unforgettable moments in St. Barbara's Church. Come and celebrate with us!
P. ThLic. Vladislav Brokeš, Ph.D. - archdeacon
