October 26, 2012

Location #5: The Sedlec Ossuary

My, it's been a while since I've updated! Graduating will do that to you, my apologies. Allow me to make it up to you by presenting another creepy location! The Sedlec Ossuary!

Oh, this is going to be good...


Now, there are a couple churches like this one that are built out of bones. Back in the late 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, bodies piled up too quickly for churches to dispose of in a timely manner. So what was their solution? Mass grave? Don't be ridiculous! No, these pious people of the cloth decided to follow the oh so important rule of waste not, want not!

As I said, there are more churches than you would think that are built out of bones, but this one holds a bit more of a creep factor for me than the others. I think it may be the elaborate chandeliers, and the coat of arms built entirely out of bone.


  Yes, that is exactly what should be on every church's front door...


The Sedlec Ossuary is located in the small Czech town of Sedlec. A small abbot located in the town was blessed with soil from the Holy Land on the cemetery in the 13th century, and suddenly, people from all over Europe were demanding to be buried there. The Sedlec graveyard grew by leaps and bounds until 1870, when they were unable to keep up with the amount of bodies being shipped in, and the priests decided to finally do something with the decaying bodies laying about. They hired Czech woodcarver Frantisek Rint to create something both fascinating and terrifying in one quick glance.

No, I insist.... after you....

Today, this chapel is infamous for the extravagant decor made from human remains, and some claim that it was what inspired the few other houses of God to try out a new decorating scheme. It was even inspiration for Dr. Satan's lair in the Rob Zombie movie House of 1000 Corpses.

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