The foot bone’s connected to the…
March 15, 2009
Sedlec Ossuary is decorated with the bones from 40,000 people
Yesterday, I made a day trip out to Kutna Hora – a small town about an hour’s train ride from Prague. The main reason I went? To visit Sedlec Ossuary – or as most American expats have dubbed it – “The Bone Church.”
It’s a small chapel, otherwise indescript from the outside – but completely out of this world on the inside. Its interior is decorated with the bones of some 40,000 people.
How did this happen?
In the 13th century, a Bohemian monk traveled to the Holy Land and returned with some dirt from Calvary hill, which he then sprinkled on the local cemetery. It, hence, became the burial spot of choice for devout, highbrow people living in the area. Three centuries, a few major religious battles and a Plague later – it had well-beyond exceeded it’s capacity as a burial ground.
The monks decided to build a small chapel to serve as a storage place – later stacking and then arranging the bones in a decorative fashion. A chandelier in the center of the chapel is said to contain every bone in the human body.
Is it scary or just fascinating?
Since a picture is said to be worth a 1000 words, I’ll leave it to these following images for you to decide…
