12/21/2005: Church with ornamental human bones
 

http://cellar.org/2005/bones-church.jpg

The Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, is a small Christian chapel. Looks quite ordinary...

http://cellar.org/2005/bones-interior.jpg

Except that the interior is entirely decorated with human bones.

http://cellar.org/2005/bones-chandelier.jpg

Chandelier.

http://cellar.org/2005/bones-coatofarms.jpg

Coat-of-arms detail.

It's all from this fansite for the chapel which details the whole thing, including the fact that the raw material for it included "40,000 sets of human bones".

How do you say "Creepy" in Czech?

Utterly cool!

All those churches worrying about running out of graveyard space? Hint, hint...

creepy feeling - mravenčení

or something...not sure just started learning but that's what my dictionary says

Anyway, I can't wait to visit this place next week.

You joke, but honestly, thats part of the reason why the bones were used in the first place.

I took a class my senior year entitled History of Death in America, and among other things, we talked about this church (or another one like it, not sure if it was exactly this one) and the ideas about death surrounding it.

As expected, most people found it rather creepy and macabre, but obviously, it being a Christian church, it wasn't viewed as creepy around the time it was being used.

Our teacher told us that it used to be that when you died you were buried within the church grounds. Unfortunately, with people dying every day, and church lands not exactly getting any bigger, the places tended to fill up. Thus, some churches (i.e. this one) decided to make use of all the human remains.

And there you have it. As to the evolution of attitudes towards death, and how much things have changed, and the reasoning behind it all....well, it was a semester long class, so I don't think we have time for it here.

- Sam

Also, if you search on google you can find lots of other churches and chapels with similar decorating tastes. Just search for "capuchin church bones"

<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hs=NpY&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=capuchin+church+bones&btnG=Search"> Google Search</a>

That's the power of the IotD... I've never heard of this item before, but if I post it, a lurker will arrive within a half-hour to explain the whole thing.

(That's another way of saying, welcome Sam! Thanks.)

I would love to see that. Very cool.

Welcome to the Cellar, Samael.

I won't make any bones about it , but that is where the whole ball of wax is rolling.
Soon people will have to start buying land in desolate or geographically substandard ares to bury their dead. No more family plots. An error in planning.
Cremation has edged up in society from an alternative, and will most likely leap to the norm shortly.
Our entire species is getting lazier and lazier. Most people these days would prefer having ashes handy as opposed to a trip to the cemetary.
Anyway the bones in these images are creepy to me but they are placed with an artistic aire. I would like to visit and see this firsthand. The way the bones are integrated with metals and other material within theme is way cool to me (in the first page of UT's link).
Seems like there would be a lot of legal tape to wade through to display one's bones in public. The creepy side keeps creeping up on me.

What I wouldn't give to visit this place and carry along a pair of xylophone mallets.

The poor and disenfranchised had to be disposed of, too. 7 million, under Paris. :skull:

I hope that they build their Christmastime Nativity out of bones, too...

Wow, Iv'e heard of churches that are popular but this is surely one that people are just dying to get in to! :p

La Danse Macabre performed daily.