A chapel of bones

Imagine a place of worship where chandeliers are made of human skulls and bones. On a recent visit to Prague, we came across a quaint Roman Catholic chapel called Sedlec Ossuary, which has bones from an estimated 40,000–70,000 people. It is about 85 km from Prague, and located beneath the Cemetery Church of all Saints.

The skulls and bones are artistically arranged in chandeliers, frescos, etc, so the place doesn’t spook you.  A popular ­tourist ­destination, this is one of the twelve World Heritage sites in the Czech Republic.

In 1278, an abbot brought some holy soil from Jerusalem  and sprinkled it here. So people wanted to be buried here. After the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in this abbey. Small wonder that this abbey features in films such as Blood & Chocolate and  Dungeons & Dragons!