The Great and Terrible Ossuary in the Czech Republic. Czech Republic: Ossuary - Church made of bones Church in the Czech Republic made of bones and skulls

Restrained, well-trained Prague in style resembles a prim, excellent student. Not a single extra line and every brick in its place. The first week it delights, then it unnerves. So much so that even according to the domestic tradition of hanging billboards advertising chips on historical monuments, you begin to get bored.

But you can find a skeleton in everyone's closet. The Czech Republic decided not to limit itself to the wardrobe and assigned it to this business. It is there, in the Siedlce district, that the main ossuary of the country.

Come - you are always welcome here.

Every year 250,000 people come to see it. Will you dare to test your endurance?

Ossuary. Entrance to the territory.
The inscription is in four languages.

Are you ready to take selfies not in cafes and malls, but in a church made of bones? Then we declare preparations for the trip open!

The mosaic on the path suggests
that you have come to the right address.
Czech humor.

A little history (to nod understandingly to the guide, and not faint), the cost of entry, addresses of souvenir shops... Comparative characteristics of valerian and as an effective sedative and others nuances that are more pleasant to know BEFORE the excursion.

What do thousands of travelers come to see every year?

The ossuary in Kutna Hora is a very uniquely decorated church. To organize its interior decoration, it took 40,000 human skeletons.

At first glance, you won’t suspect anything: a small Church surrounded by a cemetery. Nothing remarkable.

You can even come here with children - but so what?

But once you step inside...

Hello - why did you come?

Bones on the ceiling and along the walls. A chandelier, columns, crosses, vases, coats of arms, cups are made from bones... The author of this gloomy structure even wrote his signature with bones.

The hall with the main exhibition is a semi-basement room.
We go down the stairs...

Chlorine-bleached skulls and shoulder blades, disinfected ribs and vertebrae, humeri and tibias... You can take an anatomy textbook with you and take a mini-inventory: you will find both os coccygis (from Latin - coccyx) and os sacrum (from Latin - sacrum) . You may not even know that each of us has so many bones.

Who thought of building something like this instead of sophisticated palaces? Why did they violate human remains? By the way, whose bones are these?!

Many, very many…

Victoria (37 years old, Vladimir):

“I didn’t want to go there, it’s not my format. But my husband insisted that it was a must see, and my son was also interested. I was frankly afraid that I would faint or something like that. In fact, pictures on the Internet are more frightening. And there, inside, you think about other things. It's not scary there, but very sad and calm. Children, especially the younger ones, don’t seem to feel anything at all: they run, scream, everyone is trying to steal or pick something... I didn’t faint, but I didn’t take pictures, and I don’t want to go back there again, although, I don’t regret that I visited.”

Human life, what are you?
Who is looking into your face?

It’s easy to tell a story, but it’s not easy to build an Ossuary

The history of the Ossuary (or ossuary: from the Latin “os” - bone) was started by the King of the Czech Republic, Otakar II. He sent one of the novices of the local monastery to Palestine. While at Golgotha, the monk took some sacred soil. He brought this earth to the Czech Republic and on a windy day scattered it over the cemetery, which after that also began to be considered sacred land.

Influential families of the Czech Republic and neighboring countries wished to bury their relatives in such a cemetery. The cemetery has become more in demand. But after the difficult year of 1318, when the plague was raging, there was no room left for new burials.

Enterprising Czechs got out gracefully. They removed all the old bones and built a cathedral and crypt for them nearby. And new dead people began to be buried in the cemetery. The trick was performed 6 times.

Now the cemetery looks like this.
Seventh shift...

During this time, 40,000 people found their last refuge in Sedlec. Some monk even built pyramids from all these phalanges, vertebrae and ribs.

But Frantisek Rint brought the church to its current form. He was invited by the Schwarzenbergs when these lands fell to them. Rint conceived and created the interior of the Ossuary. His main masterpiece is a chandelier in which every (!) bone of the human body was used.

The science of bones is osteology.
And this is an osteological chandelier.

In gratitude for the trust shown, Rint formed not only his initials, but also the Schwarzenberg coat of arms from the collarbones, shoulder blades, humerus, radius and ulna.

The Schwarzenbergs were not shy...

If you believe the legend, a visit to the Ossuary can bring a lot of money. To do this, you need to throw a coin in front of the altar. And if sometime in the future the person who performed such a ritual is in poverty, then fate will throw him sudden wealth.

Timofey (32 years old, Moscow):

"Amazing place! Who do you have to be to build something like this?! But it was worth the trip. You need to watch this once. You immediately think about different things that you usually don’t have time to remember. Everything is done beautifully, although creepy. Especially when you imagine that each bone belonged to some person who was like us: he lived, thought about something, dreamed about something... By the way, I didn’t feel any smell. I was more embarrassed by the perky selfies that other tourists took.”

Next to the cemetery there is a children's playground.
Ordinary. Not at all gothic.

How to get to the Ossuary without dying along the way?

The town of Kutná Hora is located 66 km from the Czech capital. The famous ossuary stands on its very outskirts, in the Siedlce district. This area is separated from the center by about 3-3.5 km.

There are two ways to get to bone deposits:

On one's own

An independent trip is suitable for those who:

• doesn’t want to get up early and run to Wenceslas Square by 8:00;
• knows how to drive, is ready to rent a car or get acquainted with Czech public transport alone;
• is friendly with maps, navigators and is not afraid of getting lost on the road;
• doesn’t like to live according to a schedule and always wants to change the route because “Look, what a colorful building, let’s stop and take a photo!”

Price - from 220 CZK (price of train tickets from Prague to Kutna Hora and back).

Getting there from Prague is not difficult: you can rent a car, or you can take a nap for an hour on the bus or train “Prague - Kutná Hora”.

Traveling in a rented car is a normal option.
There are no problems with parking.

A bus ride will cost 68 CZK. We choose a bus.
A train ticket costs 110 CZK. Checking the schedule.

Do you want to plan your trip wisely? Would you go... . There you will find a number of tips: addresses of trusted restaurants, coordinates of interesting locations that you can visit along the way, etc.

With a group excursion

This voyage is an option for those who:

• can't drive;
• does not speak Czech or English;
• wants to take a break from searching for attractions on the Internet;
• wants to be sure that by dinner that day (!) there will be .

Cost: €27 per person. Duration: 8 hours.

Mikhail (21 years old, Volgograd):

“We decided to go to Kostnitsa without fail. When you go inside, there is such a strange feeling... It’s not scary, no. You just remember that no one is eternal. You feel some kind of respect for death, or something... I don’t know how to describe it. But there is something to think about, even when you have already left. As for the bones... Everything is done so carefully and precisely that it is quite possible to abstract from the fact that you are surrounded by human remains.”

Abstract yourself...
and all will be well.

Reconstruction, work schedule, prices and other org. questions

Cost of tickets to the ossuary:

Full (adults) - 90 CZK;
Preferential (for students, disabled people, children) - 60 CZK.

Opening hours:

On other days:

• November - February: 9:00 - 16:00;
• April - September: 8:00 - 18:00 (during this period on Sundays - from 9:00);
• October, March: 9:00 - 17:00.

Now in Kostnice reconstruction is taking place. The church is surrounded by scaffolding: the roof is being repaired and the façade of the building is being refreshed. The renovation will last 5 years. All this time the ossuary in the Czech Republic was and will be open for visitors.

In July 2015, the church looked like this. To the side and behind there is scaffolding. Reconstruction.

Fables periodically appear on the Internet that the ossuary is closed, but this is incorrect information. The city is run by smart people. They are able to imagine how many losses Kutna Hora will suffer if its main asset ceases to function for 5 years. Therefore, management will not take such measures.

Still nervous and afraid to ride in vain? Information can always be checked on the official website, at a travel agency, or based on reviews from recently returned tourists.

Photography is allowed, but without flash.

Both beautiful and scary...
Take photos... reflect later.

Souvenirs

There is a gift shop in the Ossuary itself, near it and near the Cathedral of St. Barbarians.

Gift shop in the ossuary.
The most popular souvenir is a skull.

Here you can buy both standard souvenirs (magnets, T-shirts, etc.) and more specific ones (knight figurines, keychains, magnets, postcards, cups with skulls and crossbones, ceramics, etc.).

Another souvenir is a T-shirt for her and for him on an impromptu display.
350 Kč.

This...that, but can everyone go there?

Particularly impressionable people who faint at the word “poop” have nothing to do there. The rest will not have nightmares or phobias. No one will go there every year, but one visit for general development is quite bearable.

If you are a believer and are worried about how the church treats such places, then you should talk about it with your confessor. He will tell you about the morals of your denomination.

Rita felt somehow uncomfortable here.

In the past, the bones were buried according to all the rules, The church still holds services in memory of the dead. Anyone can light a candle. This is hardly an insult to the deceased.

But less than ten years had passed, Rita came here again - this time with the children.

Now your wallet and psyche are ready for anything. While other tourists ooh, aah and try to stay conscious, you can expertly count all the collarbones and sternums and take a couple of epic photos. And then you look, and you’ll be able to snatch the cutest skulls from the souvenir shop.

The city is located 80 kilometers from Prague. In its suburb of Sedlec there is one of the most unique churches in the world - the Cemetery Church of All Saints, better known as the Ossuary (Kostnice v Sedlci). The tradition of keeping the bones of the dead in chapels was widespread in the Middle Ages. But in this temple they are not just preserved - the main part of the interior decoration is made from the remains.

The history of an amazing church

The Church of All Saints was built in 1400 in the central part of the cemetery at the Cistercian monastery in Sedlec. But the mystical history of this place began much earlier.
In 1278, Abbot Henry, who served in the monastery, was sent by Otakar II to Jerusalem. From there he brought some earth taken from Golgotha ​​and scattered it around the cemetery. As a result, this place gained incredible popularity not only among Czechs, but also among residents of central Europe. Everyone wanted to find their eternal peace in the Sedlec necropolis with its holy land.

The events of the next hundred plus years - wars, floods and numerous epidemics - led to the fact that the cemetery increased significantly in size. At the beginning of the 15th century, in order to free up space for new burials, long-buried remains were removed and stored in the church tomb.

By 1500, a huge amount of bones had accumulated. It is believed that it was during that period that the first interior items from the remains appeared. According to legend, they were created by a half-blind monk.

Instead of simply throwing the skeletons into the crypt, he bleached them in a chlorine solution and used them as material. As a result, two central and four corner pyramids arose in the tomb, crowned with large crowns. Some time after the end of his labors, the monk died.

At the beginning of the 16th century the church was rebuilt. According to the architect Santini, a new entrance was added to the building and the upper tier was redone in the Baroque style. Then the temple was closed for more than 150 years.

In the center of the cathedral there are four obelisks decorated with skulls. On one of the walls of the room there is a filigree bone coat of arms of the Schwarzenberg family, as well as Rint’s autograph, laid out from the remains. According to various sources, it took from 40,000 to 50,000 bones to finish the temple.

The Cemetery Church of All Saints is a temple with an amazing atmosphere. On the one hand, the skill of the master who created the jewelry is impressive. On the other hand, the thought of what material all the interior elements are made of is terrifying. The ossuary is the most suitable place to feel the transience of existence and think about the eternal. The church is open to visitors all year round, except for Christmas.

Opening hours and ticket prices

The ossuary works:

• November - February from 9:00 to 16:00
• April - September from 8:00 to 18:00 (Sunday 9:00-18:00)
• October - March from 9:00 to 17:00

Tickets:

• Standard: 90 CZK
• Reduced/children 60 CZK

Group discounts (8 or more people):

• Standard: 75 CZK
• Students/children/disabled: 50 CZK

Family tickets:

• 2 adults + 1-4 children: 240 CZK
• 2 adults + 5-8 children: 300 CZK

How to get to Kostnice

The easiest and fastest way to get to Kostnice from Prague is by train. The direct flight Prague - Kutná Hora departs from and arrives at the Kutná Hora central station (Kutná Hora město).

Flights operate regularly, every two hours, the first flight departs exactly at 6:00 am, the last at 22:00. Travel time is 56 minutes, ticket price is 106 CZK one way. On the way back the picture is even better, trains run almost every hour, the first at 4:57, the penultimate at 18:59, the last at 20:59.

The schedule and price are always subject to change, please check first!

There is a “Tourist Bus” right next to the station; the bus has 8 seats, the minimum number of passengers for departure is three. The service is popular, fills up quickly, and goes straight to the entrance to the Ossuary. Ticket price is 35 CZK one way.

Videos and photos

We made a short 2-minute video and a number of photos for you. I would like to warn you that it is prohibited to take photographs inside with a flash, an audible alarm immediately goes off, this is exactly what happened to us, we had to apologize.

Ossuary in the CZECH REPUBLIC - church made of human bones (SEDLEC, KUTNA HORA)

On the outskirts of the city of Kutna Hora in the town of Sedlec in the Czech Republic there is a unique structure - a holy cemetery with Bethlehem soil and the famous Kosnitsa Temple. An ossuary is nothing more than a chapel of a Catholic church with a ossuary. But that's exactly what The ossuary is unique and the only one in the world. This is a kind of tribute to the death and historical memory of local residents, a reminder of the frailty of all things, the transience of our lives and the day of judgment. The temple is decorated with the remains of 40 thousand people - there are human skulls and bones everywhere...

From the street, the building of the Ossuary does not particularly stand out; behind the monastery fence, near a modest cemetery, there is a small church entangled in scaffolding.

After the plague epidemic and the religious wars of the Hussists, there was a catastrophic shortage of space, the cemetery grew, but the number of dying was still much greater than the territory of the monastery land could accommodate. Then it was decided to build a church with a tomb here - the so-called ossuary. In fact, the tomb was an ordinary warehouse of bones that were removed from old graves, and the free space in the cemetery was used for the second and third round... After some time, the space in the ossuary ran out, and then one of the old half-blind monks decided to put in order the piles of accumulated bones , bleached them in a special disinfectant solution and carefully folded them into four huge pyramids.

This was the case until 1870, when the land with the Ossuary became the property of the Schwarzenberg family. They decided to tidy up and improve the old warehouse of bones and hired a talented woodcarver, Frantisek Rint, whose main task was to create the interior of the church from the accumulated bones. Four now symbolic pyramids remained in the center of the temple, as a reminder of the past merits of the caring monk.

The results of Frantisek Rint's work have been impressing visitors for many years: garlands of bones and skulls hang from the ceiling...

In the center of the church, a huge bone chandelier descends from the ceiling, in which all the bones of the human skeleton are involved in full:

To the left of the entrance to the crypt there is a large Schwarzenberg family coat of arms, also made of bones, of course:

Initially, the coat of arms was missing a detail in the lower right corner - the head and raven appeared later, by order of a family, one of whose members saved the country from the invasion of the Turks by tracking down and killing a Turkish spy. It is his skull that now adorns the family coat of arms, where a raven rather symbolically pecks out the eyes of an enemy spy.

On the sides of the stairs there are vases and columns made of human bones...

Even the city's coat of arms, the monastery's coat of arms and the master's autograph on the wall are made of the same material. That is why the Czech Ossuary is unique and the only such structure in the world. Ossuary depositories can be found in other countries and cities - mountains of skulls, mountains of bones... But nowhere else in the world are there such a large number of interior items created from human bones.

Many consider this attitude towards the remains to be barbaric and sacrilege, but the temple is located below ground level, which means that the bones are actually in the ground, in a crypt, and buried according to all church canons, plus they were buried according to all the rules in the cemetery earlier. The room is well lit and ventilated, services are regularly held here and candles are always lit in memory of everyone who is buried here. Anyone can leave 4 crowns in the donation box and light their own memorial candle.

The impressions are, of course, mixed. But as for me, I personally would prefer to be such an ornament after death than to simply rot in an earthen pit. And I don’t see anything offensive here at all.

It is not recommended for particularly impressionable people, pregnant women and people with a delicate mental structure. For others, the chapel is open 7 days a week, from morning to evening and seven days a week. The cost of an adult entrance ticket is about 100 CZK. You can take as many photographs as you like, but without flash. Here you can also buy historical brochures, magnets, coins, T-shirts and other souvenirs with the symbols of the Ossuary.

ATTENTION! The ossuary will soon be closed for several years for reconstruction!
The church itself and the lands of the adjacent cemetery are actively subsiding underground. But there is no mysticism in this. Like most of the buildings in Kutná Hora and Sedlec (more details in the next post), these lands stand on hollow mines, silver mining was carried out here for several centuries, and almost the entire surrounding area is dotted with underground tunnels and empty cavities that are actively eroded by groundwater. Therefore, over time, the land and the buildings built on them settle. And if you are going to visit this unique place, I recommend doing so in the near future.

Operating mode: November - February from 9:00 to 16:00, October and March from 9:00 to 17:00, April - September from 8:00 to 18:00.

HOW TO GET FROM PRAGUE TO KUTNA HORA?

* BY TRAIN: From the main railway station to the Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží station is 73 km, which is approximately 1 hour. According to the schedule, the first train leaves Prague at 5:16, and the last at 23:16. In the opposite direction - at 5:00 and 22:24. The ticket costs approximately 3 euros (if you buy it in advance). You can check the schedule, cost and buy a ticket through a single service idos.cz

* BY BUS: from the bus station ÚAN Florenc and metro station Praha Háje to the bus station Kutná Hora autobusové stanice routes daily from 6:00 to 22:00. In the opposite direction - from 4:50 to 20:22. Some routes require 1-2 transfers, this is about 65 km, travel time is approximately 1.40-2.00 hours. The price of a ticket for a direct route one way is about 2.50 euros, a trip with a transfer is 2.2 euros. Schedule, route type, ticket price and purchase are also possible through the single service idos.cz.

* WITH EXCURSION: at agencies near the Olroy clock in the center of Prague, an excursion in a small group for 15-20 people with a Russian-speaking historian guide for the whole day, with a visit to Kutna Hora, the Ossuary in Sedlec and some Czech castle will cost about 35 euros .

An amazing and terrifying architectural monument, created specifically to remind us of death, is world famous under the name Kostnica, Czech Republic. Decorations, inscription letters, pyramids, a chandelier - everything here is made from a truly unusual material, from human bones. The Church of Bones contains the remains of 40,000 people.

This unusual church is located near the town of Kutna Hora, approximately 70 kilometers from the capital of the Czech Republic. Now it is a small town, but once, thanks to silver deposits, it was practically a second Prague and, moreover, the main financial center of the entire country. But Kutna Hora was not destined to either eclipse or even catch up with the capital. The reason for this was the plague and religious wars, and over time, depleted reserves of silver. I doubt that any of the predecessors could have imagined that Kutna Hora would become famous because the world-famous ossuary (ossuary) is located here. The Czech Republic, in turn, will become a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of tourists who want to see a cemetery in the shape of a church.

Its history dates back to 1278. Then the Polish king Otakar II sent the Abbot of Siedlce on a diplomatic mission to Jerusalem. Upon his return, the abbot scattered the brought earth (a small handful) over the monastery cemetery. This event gave the cemetery the title of Holy Land and, not surprisingly, increased the popularity of this place among noble families throughout the Czech Republic and surrounding countries. Accordingly, the cemetery grew rapidly. Soon it reached a size of four hectares. After some time, rumors began to circulate that martyrs and people who died in the name of faith were buried here.

In 1218, the plague spread throughout Europe, cemeteries could not accommodate the huge number of dead, so secondary burial was actively practiced, when old bones were put in chapels (they were called “ossuaries”), and in place of the old bones, the dead were buried again. The land in the cemetery was resold more than six times, and as a result, the remains of actually 40,000 people were collected on the site of the Sedlec Monastery ossuary. In 1511, a half-blind monk, having bleached all the bones, began to stack them into six pyramids. Each pyramid was 2-3 meters high. When the monk died, the pyramids were not destroyed, but the church made of bones was closed for 350 years.

In the 18th century, Prince Schwarzenberg, who then owned the monastery land, ordered the creation of what people later called the “church of bones.” This unusual case was entrusted to the care of a local woodcarver, whose name was František Rint. He soaked the bones in bleach and gradually created his creations. One of the most unusual was a chandelier, where the master used absolutely all parts of the human skeleton - from the phalanx of the fingers to the coccygeal bones. In gratitude to his employer, Rint also made the Schwarzenberg coat of arms out of bones.

Often the Kostnica-Czech Republic route is chosen by gold-mining tourists. What is the reason? In the 16th century, monks found a treasure under one of the pyramids. It was never possible to find out its origin. It seems like it came out of nowhere. That is why the brothers attributed the discovery to divine intervention.

It is difficult to find a more striking and tragic work than a church made of bones. The Czech Republic annually welcomes thousands of guests from all over the world who want to see a unique creation of human hands. The ossuary in the Czech Republic is a kind of reminder of the frailty of all things and the coming apocalypse, the transience of human life and the day of judgment.

70 kilometers from the capital of the Czech Republic is the small town of Kutna Hora. It is famous for its medieval Gothic church, which is one of the darkest and most frightening shrines in Central Europe. The basilica is a world-famous crypt, the unusual interior of which is decorated with human bones. Kostinets is filled with a chilling atmosphere. The remains of hundreds of thousands of people in the dimly lit room form decorative elements that represent a horrifying work of bone art. A visit to this place makes you think about human values, the transience of life and the inevitability of death.

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In Kutna Hora there is a small church with a ossuary. This distinctive Gothic tomb is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The church earned its honorary status thanks to its amazing decoration, for the design of which materials of natural origin, which were human remains, were used. The tragic style of decoration attracts millions of tourists. In other countries and cities you can also find similar attractions, but on a smaller scale. Only in the Czech Republic there is the only church in the world where a huge number of objects made from human bones are collected.

Hip, tibia, and humerus bones, ribs, vertebrae, and skulls adorn the walls and ceiling of the basilica. Chandeliers, crosses, bowls, vases, candelabra, garlands and other parts of church utensils are made from the skeletons of more than 50,000 bodies. Most of the bones date back to 1318, when the Czech Republic was struck by plague.

History of creation

The Roman Catholic church was part of the Sedlec monastery, founded in 1142. The chapel was erected in the 14th century not far from the cemetery, the territory of which subsequently rapidly expanded. This was facilitated by the abbot of the monastery, who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon his return, he brought to his native monastery a handful of earth from the hill where Jesus Christ was crucified. The abbot scattered holy soil over the cemetery, after which the burial place gained fame among the aristocrats of Bohemia, who preferred sacred ground for their resting place.

At the turn of the 14th-15th centuries, when the Czech Republic was hit by a plague epidemic and religious strife flared up, the territory of the cemetery expanded significantly. Disease and wars led to many deaths. More than 40,000 people were buried here, resulting in a shortage of places for new burials. The monastery leadership decided to remove the old bones and move them to the basement of the chapel. Human remains were carefully placed in a special storage facility called a crypt. According to legend, a half-blind monk artistically built six large pyramids from bones, four of which can still be seen in the church. After this, the abbot’s sight allegedly returned.

In 1784, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Joseph II, ordered the closure of Siedlce Abbey and cemetery. The church and the adjacent territory of the monastery became the property of the aristocratic family of the princes of Schwarzenberg, who were at that time large landowners in Bohemia. The new owner was not impressed by the church's property in the form of a mountain of skulls and bones. He hired local woodcarver František Rint to create decorative elements for the chapel from a pile of skeletons.

The prince was not worried that the eccentric basilica would be a symbol of blasphemous mockery of the remains of human bodies and an insult to Christian rituals. At that time, one of his relatives was an Austro-Hungarian cardinal, so approval from church leaders was ensured. Soon, many residents of the Bohemian kingdom began to consider the ossuary a sacred place. They believed that the people whose bones decorate the interior of the chapel would be the first to be resurrected on Judgment Day. The result of Frantisek Rinat's work exceeded all expectations.

After polishing and disinfecting with bleach, Rint skillfully set about transforming the bones into works of art for the church's interior. The artist made intricate figures from bones, including four chandeliers, a huge chalice, a decorative chain of dozens of skulls and much more. As a sign of gratitude to his patrons, Frantisek Rint decorated one of the walls of the chapel with the Schwarzenberg family coat of arms. Many small details of the bone composition reproduced elements of the princely emblem.

Rint's works have been preserved in almost their original form. In the 21st century, the chapel building and bone decorations required restoration work. The building sank dangerously, and dampness constantly accumulated in the basements of the crypt. Restoration efforts began in 2014 and continue to this day. However, despite the renovation, the ossuary remains open to tourists.

Description

The church is a typical example of the Baroque-Gothic architectural style. The basilica, with its simple structure and strict lines, is quite inconspicuous in appearance. The building's modest stone façade with arched windows is topped by two hexagonal towers. Between them there is a pediment with a statue of the Virgin Mary. The small church is visually lengthened by the extension in front of the entrance.

The decoration of the Ossuary is of greatest interest. The basement of the chapel is located at a depth of three meters. In the prevailing coolness and darkness of the lower tier of the church, four giant mounds of bones are stacked in the shape of a bell with a hole for ventilation in the middle. Above each three-meter mounds hang wooden crowns, representing the symbol of victory over death. Up close, these “hills” look especially intimidating.

Between the vaulted ceiling and the arches of the main hall there is a garland of leg bones and skulls. In the center of the chapel there are four pyramidal columns framed by skulls. On top of them are small plaster cherubs (angels) with golden wings. Thus, a strange contrast is formed in a rather ominous atmosphere. In the niches of the basilica walls, lined with crossed bones, goblets, vases, glasses and candelabra are placed. Thousands of small fragments of the human skeleton were used to create church objects.

The main altar of the temple consists of a small brick pedestal on which stands a cross with the crucified Jesus. The bowls and crosses placed along the walls are made of hip bones. You can pay attention to the glass cabinets with skulls that have cracks. The damage indicates a violent nature of death.

The most outstanding feature of the church's interior is the grandiose central chandelier, consisting of all the bones of the human body. Its diameter is more than two meters. Candlesticks stand on snow-white skulls, “looking” at the brave visitors to the ossuary. The chandelier is suspended from the ceiling on a chain, the links of which are made of jaws. Below it is a stone slab that serves as the entrance to the crypt where 15 nobles are buried. On one of the walls of the church you can see the autograph of the main artist who designed the interior of the temple. As befits the style of this church, the initials are made of bone materials.

Above the entrance to the chapel you can see an inscription in Latin made from fragments of human bones. It denotes parting words addressed to visitors to the ossuary: “We were you, and soon you will be us.”