The Church of Bones

Okay, guys. When I first came across this topic, admittedly not too long ago, a mixture of excitement and terror enveloped me. Let me tell you about it!

In the suburbs of Kutna Hora, in the Czech Republic, is the Sedlec Ossuary. The chapel is also known as the Church of Bones because it has been artistically decorated with over 40,000 human skeletons. One of the most unique pieces in the chapel is a big chandelier of bones. It's positioned in the center of the ossuary and contains at least one of every bone in the human body. But even though this may seem like a morbid, scary place to visit, it's actually said to be quite peaceful.

In the year 1278, a Cistercian abbot named Henry, went to the Holy Land. Like many tourists, Henry brought back a jar of earth from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. When he arrived back to Kutna Hora, Henry sprinkled the cemetery with the earth. When the word of his actions spread, Sedlec became the place to go for burial.

Eventually, there were so many human remains, something had to be done about it. So the ossuary was created, with a monk assigned the task of arranging the bones. More than 300 years later, a woodcarver, Frantisek Rindt, was asked to arrange the bones in a decorative way. You can read more about the Sedlec Ossuary at www.sedlecossuary.com. The pictures are extraordinary!