As the Bohemia (or the Czech lands) was and is a landlocked country, the image of sea has always had a peculiar meaning among its inhabitants, ranging from pure exoticism to romantic melancholy, longing for unattainable higher ideas, to quasi-imperial fantasies. However, with the advent of early geology, this imaginary sea surprisingly materialized in the form of prehistoric rock deposits. As science advanced, this primordial geological sea became the localized “Silurian Sea of Bohemia,” a term coined by paleontologist and geologist Joachim Barrande in his Systême silurien du centre de la Bohême (Silurian System of the Central Bohemia, 1852). This paper will explore how Barrande’s discoveries influenced preexisting imagery and enriched it with new meanings, thereby helping to shape the understanding of the prehistoric era. These shifts can be traced through motifs of the sea and trilobites and by examining how Barrande’s legacy was handled. It is also important to pay attention to Barrande’s own geological theories, as his ideas about prehistoric seas and changes to the Earth’s surface differed from modern geological knowledge.