Bone Chapel / Kutná Hora

After our time in Germany we travelled by train to the Czech Republic. While there we visited the town of Kutná Hora in the Central Bohemian region. The town is famous for its silver mining and the St. Barbara Church, however the main appeal for us was Sedlec Ossuary AKA The Bone Chapel. 

Stepping into the underground Bone Chapel is like stepping onto a set of Game of Thrones. The ossuary contains an estimated 40,000-70,000 skeletons - the bones of which have been 'artistically' arranged as decoration in the chapel. Many of these people perished during the black plague and were buried in the abbey cemetery but the mass grave was later unearthed. The stacking of the bones was originally done by the half-blind monks however it was Frantisek Rint who later designed the 'decorations'.

The chandelier that hangs in the middle of the room contains at least one of every bone in the human body. Inside there is also a coat of arms and also a cabinet of skulls and bones that belonged to persons injured or killed in battle (see skulls with arrow holes or sword cuts above). Unbelievably fascinating place! More from the Czech Republic to come.

emma