Bucket List / Experience Goals
Be Bewildered By The Bones
Ticked off
A small chapel near Prague where the chandelier, the coat of arms and the garlands are all made from human bones.
The adventure
From the outside, the Sedlec Ossuary is an ordinary little Gothic chapel in a quiet cemetery. Then you walk down the steps into the lower chapel, and your eyes take a moment to make sense of what's in front of you. Garlands of skulls hang from the vaulted ceiling. Bones are stacked into enormous pyramids in the corners, and in the centre hangs a chandelier said to contain every bone in the human body.
The story goes that in the 13th century an abbot scattered soil from Golgotha over the cemetery, making it one of the most sought-after burial grounds in Europe. Plague and war filled it, and the bones were later moved into the crypt. In 1870 a local woodcarver, František Rint, arranged them into the extraordinary displays you see today, and even signed his name in bones on the wall.
Why it’s epic
- The bones of tens of thousands of people, arranged into chandeliers, garlands and pyramids.
- A chandelier said to include at least one of every bone in the human body.
- The Schwarzenberg family coat of arms, built entirely from bones, and František Rint's signature in bone.
- Kutná Hora's historic centre and the Cathedral of St Barbara, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What it is
The Sedlec Ossuary is decorated with the bones of around 40,000 people.
How to do it
Kutná Hora is about an hour by train from Prague.
Top tip
Buy a combined ticket for the nearby cathedral.
Need to know
- Kutná Hora is about an hour by train from Prague, making it an easy day trip.
- It's a consecrated chapel, so dress respectfully and keep noise down; check current rules on photography.
- Arrive early or late in the day, as tour groups crowd the small space around midday.
Plan this trip
- Rough cost
- Under £750 per person, including flights from the UK
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Best time to go
- All year
- Fly into
- PRG airport
Entry is inexpensive and the train from Prague is cheap; a guided day trip costs a little more.
Do it yourself
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My experience
Just East of Prague lies the town of Kutna Hora, whose star attraction is the slightly macabre Sedlec Ossuary.
The Roman Catholic chapel is decorated with the bones of upwards of 60,000 people — a rather grisly but strangely compelling sight.
The centrepiece is a chandelier made entirely from bones and skulls.
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