Exploring the Strange and Macabre: A Visit to the Sedlec Ossuary

Following our noses in search of curiosities and oddities, we find our next destination. A tiny Roman Catholic chapel in the Czech Republic is dubbed Sedlec Ossuary, also known as the Church of Bones. Its morbid decor, which is entirely composed of human bones and remains, is perhaps what makes it most well-known. More than 40,000 people leave their skeletons in the ossuary, including various important personalities throughout Czech history. The remains of earlier entombments were excavated and positioned in the ossuary to make way for the flood of dead.

During a significant restoration of the church in the 18th century, the bones were sorted and placed into different ornamental displays. The bones were employed in the construction of a chandelier, a coat of arms, and other elaborate patterns. A woodcarver named Frantisek Rint was engaged in 1870 to supervise the ossuary's ornamentation. His designs include a massive bone chandelier and a coat of arms with a skull and crossbones that are among the chapel's most recognizable elements.

A Bone Church

Whoever thought they would witness such a sight. Looking at this picture you can see the sheer number of human bones within this structure. It is insane to think about the fact that these walls are covered in what was once actual people with unique lives and memories of their own.

It is almost as if this is an organically formed oddities museum of its own. Having a building like this in the world really makes you think.

Attracting tourists from all over the world, Sedlec Ossuary is a well-known tourist site nowadays. It is accessible to everyone and offers guided tours that give guests a singular and enthralling look into the chapel's history and design. The ossuary is a calm and lovely location, filled with the silent reflection of the thousands of souls that lay there, despite its ghastly aspect.

This easily falls within the curiosities and oddities category. If you go and do some research on this building you can be that one weird person at a party and have some fun weird facts to give out to the others. Although, a weird fun fact may not be the way some would describe this bit of information. Nonetheless, it is very interesting to see and learn about a church made from the remains of actual human beings.

If there was a building made of old animal bones, chelsidermy would make it HQ. In fact, maybe we should just go ahead and make a room in the house like this but out of raccoon skulls. Party in the taxidermy room!

In conclusion, Sedlec Ossuary is a genuinely unique and intriguing location that gives visitors the chance to learn about the chapel's history as well as the history of Czech traditions around death and burial. Its morbid and lovely design, which is built completely of human bones, serves as a reminder of the fleeting fragility of life and the enduring quality of the human spirit.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this article.