Bohemian silver mines at Kutna Hora discovered

1278

Prospectors struck rich silver veins in the hills southeast of Prague, sparking a mining rush that would make Kutna Hora the second city of Bohemia and flood central Europe with silver groschen. The mines underwrote the power of Czech kings and financed Gothic churches that rivaled Prague's own. The Prague groschen, minted from Kutna Hora silver, became one of the most trusted currencies in medieval Europe.