Sedlec Ossuary | Texture of Life

The Sedlec Ossuary also known as “The Church of Bones” is a small Roman-Catholic chapel located in the suburb of Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic. Bones from nearly 60,000 skeletons have been used to create decorative elements, most famously a large chandelier. It is the second largest Gothic architecture of this type after the Catacombs of Paris.

It is the home of more than 40,000 human skeletons used for decorations.
The cemetery was one of the most desired burial sites all over Bohemia and the rest of Central Europe because of the “holy soil” sprinkled around it. The soil was brought by the abbot of Sedlec from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.
The cemetery where the ossuary stands extended and took 30,000 bodies during the 14th century plague.
The cemetery took some more bodies from the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century.
The Gothic church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel that was first used as the main ossuary for the bones dug out from the cemetery to make room for new bodies.
A half-blind Cistercian monk took charge in digging out the bones from the cemetery and stacked them inside the ossuary
It was in 1870 when a local woodcarver, Frantisek Rint, was hired by the Schwarzenberg noble family. He took the task of decorating the chapel using the bones
The human skeletons inside the Sedlec Ossuary were all bleached to create a uniform look.
Every decoration you’ll see inside is made of bones, including the two bone chalices, four baroque bone candelabras, six bone pyramids, and skull candle-holders.
It is one of the twelve World Heritage Sites in Czech Republic.

It is the home of more than 40,000 human skeletons used for decorations.

The cemetery was one of the most desired burial sites all over Bohemia and the rest of Central Europe because of the “holy soil” sprinkled around it. The soil was brought by the abbot of Sedlec from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.

The cemetery where the ossuary stands extended and took 30,000 bodies during the 14th century plague.

The cemetery took some more bodies from the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century.

The Gothic church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel that was first used as the main ossuary for the bones dug out from the cemetery to make room for new bodies.

A half-blind Cistercian monk took charge in digging out the bones from the cemetery and stacked them inside the ossuary

It was in 1870 when a local woodcarver, Frantisek Rint, was hired by the Schwarzenberg noble family. He took the task of decorating the chapel using the bones

The human skeletons inside the Sedlec Ossuary were all bleached to create a uniform look.

Every decoration you’ll see inside is made of bones, including the two bone chalices, four baroque bone candelabras, six bone pyramids, and skull candle-holders.

It is one of the twelve World Heritage Sites in Czech Republic.