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The ossuary in Kutna Hora - the terrifying chapel
Kutná Hora and surrounding
Architecture,  Unusual places
Architecture, 
Unusual places

The frightening chapel in the Sedlec district of Kutna Hora is one of the most visited monuments in the city. The ossuary, or boneyard, is the repository of thousands of human bones. This dramatic but certainly fascinating chapel is located near the sophisticated Gothic Church of the ascension of the virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist (XII century). These monuments make a different impression on each visitor. In Sedlec, the world is divided into supporters of classical temple decoration and supporters of "alternative" and frightening.

The unique crypt in the Cemetery Church of All Saints in the local cemetery is "decorated" with almost only parts of skeletons – the remains of a total of 40,000 people, victims of the plague and Hussite wars.

There is a bizarre "design" of a chandelier consisting of all the large bones of the human body, creepy garlands of human shoulder blades and thighs. This is the embodiment of the idea of memento mori, hiding a deep symbolism. Interest in this place is caused by its unusual magnetism, and the desire to appreciate an unusual sight, and the ability to decipher the heritage of the ancestors.

The modern appearance of the Cemetery Church in Sedlec, built at the end of the XIV century, is the result of changes in the Baroque style made by J. B. Santini-Aichl at the beginning of the XVIII century, as well as complete restoration in the second half of the XIX century. The author of the massive chandelier decorated with human bones, as well as the cross, cup, and coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, was the carver František Rint, who laid out his signature from the bones there.

Where did they get so many bones? The cemetery of the Cistercian monastery in Sedlec was quite popular. In the 13th century, a local abbot brought several handfuls of earth from Golgotha and scattered it around the cemetery. Many believers wanted to be buried on this land. Epidemics and wars of the XIV-XV centuries added their part of the bones.

Address: U Zastávky 280, Sedlec

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Praskovia Ko

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