Sedlec Ossuary

Kutná Hora, Czech Republic (Czechia)

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Sedlec Ossuary, often called the “Bone Church,” is a small Roman Catholic chapel in Sedlec, just outside Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic, sitting beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints that was once part of a Cistercian abbey. Inside its compact Gothic interior are the bones of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people, arranged by a 19th‑century woodcarver into striking decorations such as chandeliers, pyramids, crosses, a Schwarzenberg coat‑of‑arms, and ornamental wall patterns. The ossuary began as a simple burial site in the 13th century and later became famous when plague victims and other graves were consolidated under the church, then artistically reorganized in the 1870s. Today it is one of the most visited attractions in the Czech Republic, drawing visitors from nearby Prague who come to see this eerie yet contemplative “Church of Bones” that reflects on both death and human creativity.