Zlaty Koruna

Today we got up early. On the bus at 6:45 am. Heading to Southern Bohemia in search of medieval monastaries and walled island hill towns.
Found both. After a few hits of tea and some bread and cheese the switch was thrown. We got a great lecture on rare Czech manuscripts dating from the 14th century to the 18th century.
The curator kept pulling more books out for us to look at and explained all of them. Herbals, and atlas, facsimiles of music books written for the coronation of the king in the 1100's. Books bound with other older books that were really part of the trash heap, but historians now find most fascinating.

It's a beautiful place. Zlaty Koruna means the Golden Crown in Czech. It started out as the Holy Spiny Crown and became so wealthy with the villages and lands and rents that it was known as 'golden' Was decommissioned in the 19th century by Franz Josef II and went through many other incarnations. Steel factory, private library, parish church, school.

During our monastary tour we all had to wear slippers over our shoes. It was fun to see us all sliding around in these oversized slippers trying not to fall out of them.

The artwork in the place was amazing and interesting, considering the order started out very asetic. Then changed. First no one could have meat then only the sick, then as a treat, they they had it on a regular basis....