The Ossuary in Sedlec

When Martin told me there was a church filled with bones it didn't exactly sound like a fun day out but I figured what the heck, a couple of weeks ago we were looking at mummified bodies in a crypt in Brno so maybe this will be worth seeing- he takes me to so many interesting places! So that's what we did, we headed out to the small town of Kutna Hora to see The Ossuary.

In actual fact it was a Cistercian monastery, founded during the 12th century, it obtained patron's rights and became the economic and cultural centre of the area. The obligations of the parish also included burying the dead and according to monastery traditions a cemetery existed here from about the middle of the 13th century. The Abot of the Sedlec Monastery is said to have brought a handful of earth from the Grave of the Lord in Jerusalem and to have scattered it over the cemetery. From then on people from all over Bohemia and even the surrounding countries were buried here, at the time of the great plague in 1318 the chronicle states that 30 000 bodies were buried here, and the number kept rising.

Here are some pictures of how the Ossuary looks today. After being destroyed, reconstructed and having modifications carried out, the interior is now uniquely decorated from human bones, estimated at 40 000 persons. Check out the link above for more pictures and for a much more in depth account of the history of this unique building.

Bones arranged loosely in wooden
 structures without any fixed binding

Bone chandelier

The Coat of Arms of the Schwarzenbergs, who purchased the monastery property in 1784 and had the Ossuary reconstructed in the present form.

Baroque Candelabra in the shape of a little Gothic Tower