The 9 most amazing ossuaries in the world, like the one in Hallstatt
CHAPEL OF THE BONES OF ÉVORA
The last threshold that separates the Church of San Francisco with its famous chapel distresses the visitor. The frieze of its monumental door reads: “We, the bones that are here, wait for yours” . And from that moment on, everything is skulls (some of them painted), long bones and even a couple of corpses hanging from the ceiling by chains. Its origin dates back to the 16th century, when a monk wanted to make it quite clear that life is ephemeral and that death and the final judgment await us all. Pure spirit of the Counter-Reformation raised to the most macabre power.
Chapel of the bones of Évora
SAN BERNARDINO ALLE OSSA IN MILAN
To the north of the Lombard metropolis appears this very 'no more' church that could go unnoticed were it not for its ossuary. Here the bones are not a sculptural element, but rather of exhibition, occupying the high bays of the walls. As if it were a gloomy evolution of pointillism, the skulls and bones draw shapes like the cross and other geometric whims.
DOUAUMONT OSSUARY IN FRANCE
This monument does not try to intimidate or give artistic and religious use to the bones. just want remember what was one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, that of Verdun . In this indescribable monument the remains of the 130,000 soldiers who perished in the 300 days that the tug-of-war lasted and who are remembered name by name are preserved. Better this than mass graves.
Douaumont Ossuary
SKULLS TOWER IN NIS, SERBIA
behind this construction there is no religion, but war . The Ottoman army used to build intimidating towers with the remains of their enemies. And so did the vizier of Nis Hurshid Pasha with the Serbian insurgents who futilely rose up to drive out the invading people in 1809. Over time, this tower has become a symbol for the Serbs , who built a chapel in front as a memorial so as not to forget their ill-fated ancestors and their thirst for freedom.
SANTA MARIA DELLA CONCEZIONE DEI CAPPUCCINI IN ROME
Under the skin of the gorgeous Via Veneto in Rome the crypt of this church appears. It is one of the most turbid monuments of the always harmonious eternal city. Here, organized with a certain aesthetic criterion, the bones of almost 4,000 Capuchin monks appear, distributed in 6 different rooms where silence and juyu prevail. The human remains are combined with paintings, sculptures and other symbols in an attempt to remind the mortal how short his stay in the underworld is. However, there is a more logical explanation for all this. When the Capuchins arrived at this new location, they brought from their old monastery not only their robes and Bibles, but also the corpses of their old brothers. To this overbooking of skeletons the only thing that occurred to them was to give it a solution as decorative as it was rigged. End of story.
Rome of the Death
CHAPEL OF SKULLS IN CZERMNA, POLAND
War and epidemics inspired the priest of this small town in 1776 to build this famous chapel. well, rather they provided it with a special and suitable material to cover its walls in a baroque manner: human bones. Thus, with good taste and attention to detail, they continue to be exhibited centuries later, where an altar brings a bit of sanity to this gloomy hallucination.
THE PAINTED SKULLS OF HALLSTATT
The alpine and lakeside town of Hallstatt not only is it one of the most beautiful villages in Austria, but it has a monument that chokes on cotton candy. In the basement of the church of San Miguel A small ossuary appears with some 700 skulls decorated with colors. This interior not only attracts the attention of the curious and the most adventurous Iker Jiménez, but also of anthropologists, since each remains is accompanied by some information such as the date of birth or marriage.
Hallstatt Skulls
CATACOMBS OF THE CONVENT OF SAN FRANCISCO DE JESÚS IN LIMA
As bright on the outside as it is amazing on the inside. This is how this convent is, one of the greatest attractions in all of Lima and also one of its greatest mysteries . Popular wisdom says that its kilometers of catacombs connect the most outstanding religious and civil buildings of the city while its twisted nooks and crannies suggest the bravest. But on top of that, to add to INRI, during his visit the bones appear to raise the general funk . Some are just stacked haphazardly while others draw different shapes, using the tibias and skulls like brush strokes and dots on this macabre canvas.
Catacombs of the convent of San Francisco de Jesus in Lima
SEDLEC OSSUARY IN CZECH REPUBLIC
this neighborhood of Kutna Hora preserves the most artistic and monumental ossuary on the planet. The surprising thing about his visit is that it does not bring as much bad vibes as that of his peers. Even the bones are perceived as just another material, like cheap but good ivory with which to carve an entire church. The blame for this place was due to the Black Death and the wars in Central Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries, which saturated its cemetery, famous for having holy land. Until 1870 the bones rested within its gothic framework. It was then that the carver Frantisek Rint, commissioned by the Schwarzenberg family, shaped the more than 40,000 skeletons, giving them, paradoxically, a new life.
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Sedlec Ossuary