It is a very extraordinary Roman Catholic Church in the small quaint town that has gained reputation for having bones as organic decorations on the church ceiling, walls, archways, and practically anywhere.
The skeleton church is truly an odd work of art but it works well to attract more religious to visit the house of prayer. The church traces its roots in 1218 when Abbot Henry spread a jar of cemetery soil from the Holy Land over the Chapel. The place of worship was then considered as a holy burial ground.
Tens of thousands of bodies have been buried in the Sedlec Ossuary by 1318 amid the plagues and the wars. Two centuries later, the bones were exhumed to give way for more interments. The Duke of Schwartzenberg ordered the use of the human remains as the ghastly adornment for the church.
The present decorations are the creations of the famous Czech woodcarver Frantisek Rint. Like other artisans he imprints his signature on his obra maestra’s, from the last bench in the chapel, anyone can see his name on the right hand wall written using human bones.
Bone for decorations works well for the chapel with giant bell mounds of bones are placed in every corner, archways featuring human femurs and caput, and a chandelier that has almost all the bones of the human body are some of the well-known pieces.
Human bones turns the sacred burial and praying ground into a wonderful, bizarre, bone tingling work of art.
