By the time we made it to Sedlec Ossuary, I had seen two ghosts. I’d become quite familiar with the centuries of spirits that reside in the Czech Republic. The artful installation of over 40,000 skeletons inside this Roman Catholic chapel in the suburbs of Kutna Hora could be quite spooky, but I found it beautiful.
It was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but inside the chapel it was so cold I could see my breath. I stayed in there as long as I could take it. At least an hour. My toes finally started to go numb.
This chandelier contains every bone in the human body.
Luckily we had a day off in Prague at the end of our tour and were able to keep the rental car an extra day. We tried to visit before the tour started but weren’t able to. I would never miss a chance to see this chapel. It really is unbelievable. The story goes that in 1278 the abbot of the monastery in Sedlec was sent to Isreal and when he returned, he brought back bits of earth he removed from Golgotha and sprinkled them over the cemetery. Word spread and it soon became a popular burial site in Europe.
Coat of arms
Around 1400 a chapel was built and the lower level was used to house the mass graves that were disturbed during the construction process. In 1870 a woodcarver was hired to get the bones in order and this was his masterpiece.
The village of Kutna Hora was really cute, but it was tiny. A few trinket shops and not much to eat for a limited diet. We brought snacks for the road trip, which lasts about an hour and a half each way.
What do you think? Do you find this work awe-inspiring like I do, or does it make you uneasy?
Related links: Šumperk, Czech Republic: Prelude to a Ghost Story
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