Dem Dry Bones — Mostly Harmless

SKULL GARLANDS, a chandelier of bones, small tunnels made of femurs, a family crest made of bones, skull chalices, bone candelabras…

Fittingly situated beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic lies Sedlec Ossuary. Known to travelers as “The Bone Church”, the ossuary contains the artfully arranged skeletons of somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000 people.

When a local abbot brought “holy soil” back from Jerusalem, the grounds around Sedlec became one of the most desired burial sites in central Europe. After the Black Death swept though in the 14th century, the grounds were overcome with bodies. Before long there wasn’t enough room for the dead so bodies were moved to a nearby crypt and the ossuary was born.

In the early 1500s the chore of exhuming the skeletons was taken on by a half-blind monk, and member of the local order, then in the late 1800s František Rint was hired by the Schwarzenberg family to get creative with the remains. It was this artistic touch that put Sedlec on our modern-day maps.

This chandelier of bones is said to contain at least one of every bone in the human body.

One of the most popular resting places since the 13th century, Is today one of the most popular tourist destinations, attracting some 200,000 visitors with a penchant for the macabre every single year.

An easy one-hour train ride from Prague, the Sedlec Ossuary is within walking distance from the Kutná Hora train station.

The Schwarzenberg family coat of arms, made entirely of human bones. By František Rint.

Detail from the Schwarzenberg family coat of arms - a raven pecking at the severed head of a Turk.

The Sedlec Ossuary holds the remains of somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000 humans.

—|||—

Just outside of the Sedlec Ossuary is the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. This Gothic church is listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List along with the Church of St. Barbara.