As Halloween approaches, I thought I'd share some pictures I took a few years ago in the Czech Republic. They are of the Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora. It is probably the strangest place I've been.
How the Ossuary was created is nearly as interesting as as the monastary itself. Naturally, I don't know these all these details off the top of my head. Wikipedia and www.sedlecossuary.com filled in the blanks.
In 1278, the abbot of the monastary was sent to Palestine by King Otakar II of Bohemia as part of the Crusades. Upon his return from the Holy Land, he brought back some dirt from Golgotha and sprinkled it over the cemetery. As a result, people far and wide wanted to be buried there. During the plagues and wars of the 14th Century, thousands of people were buried there.
Fast forward to the 1500s and the cemetery was full. A half-blind monk was tasked to exhume bones from the cemetery and stack them in the chapel that had been built on the site. There they sat for nearly 400 years. In the late 1800s, František Rint was employed to sort out the bones. The macabre pictures below are the result.
How the Ossuary was created is nearly as interesting as as the monastary itself. Naturally, I don't know these all these details off the top of my head. Wikipedia and www.sedlecossuary.com filled in the blanks.
In 1278, the abbot of the monastary was sent to Palestine by King Otakar II of Bohemia as part of the Crusades. Upon his return from the Holy Land, he brought back some dirt from Golgotha and sprinkled it over the cemetery. As a result, people far and wide wanted to be buried there. During the plagues and wars of the 14th Century, thousands of people were buried there.
Fast forward to the 1500s and the cemetery was full. A half-blind monk was tasked to exhume bones from the cemetery and stack them in the chapel that had been built on the site. There they sat for nearly 400 years. In the late 1800s, František Rint was employed to sort out the bones. The macabre pictures below are the result.
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