The Sedlec Ossuary is a small Roman Catholic chapel outside of Prague. It contains the skeletons of about 40,000 people, whose bones have been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel. Why? Back in 1278, the King of Bohemia sent the abbot of the Sedlec Monastery to Jerusalem. When the abbot came back he brought a jar of “Holy Soil”. This dramatically increased demand to be buried in Sedlec, necessitating a cemetery expansion. Then came the plague, and the bodies started to really stack up. The bones stayed there for centuries till 1870 when a woodcarver was hired by the Schwarzenberg family to place the bones in order. The result was impressively shocking, including the family coat of arms (and other bones).
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- The sidewalk with a macabre preview of coming attractions.
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- The family coat of arms.
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- A shoulder blade? Made into a delicate dress.
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- This chandelier contains at least one of every bone in the human body.
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- Coat of arms closeup: A “bird” plucks an empty eye socket.
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- Coat of arms closeup: The crown has very tiny heads – remember they are all real skulls.
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- The cherubs were extra creepy.
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- Not so funny, this stack of humerus bones.
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- Skull and bones church steeples to decorate this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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