This church, completely unremarkable from the outside, is located near the town of Kutná Hora, about 70 kilometers from the capital of the Czech Republic.
From the inside, the hall is an amazing and at the same time shocking architectural monument in which all the main design elements are made of human bones. At the sight of all this masterpiece, the soul begins to fill with dual feelings. Reverent horror and bright delight merge in a single dance of the most intimate emotions.
In 1218, an epidemic of plague swept through all of Europe. When the cemeteries ceased to accommodate such a huge number of the deceased, secondary burials began. Old bones were piled up in chapels-ossicles, and the dead were again buried in the same places.
The cemetery was resold several times, and as a result, the remains of more than 40,000 people were collected on the site of the ossuary of the Sedlec Monastery. In 1511, a half-blind monk, having bleached all the bones, began to fold them into six pyramids. Each pyramid was 2-3 meters high.
When the monk died, the pyramids were not destroyed, but the church of bones was closed for 350 years and tens of thousands of skulls, phalanges, ribs and hip joints were left waiting in the wings.
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In the 18th century, Prince Schwarzenberg, who was then the owner of the monastery's land, gave the order to create what people later called "the church of bones." This unusual business was placed under the care of a local woodcarver named Frantisek Rint. The designer decided to give up moral principles and create something special.
He soaked bones in bleach, and gradually created his creations. One of the most unusual was the chandelier, where the master used absolutely all parts of the human skeleton. In gratitude to the employer, Rint also folded the Schwarzenberg coat of arms from bones.
Human remains cannot be restored. In the 70s of the last century, they tried to strengthen the bones with cement, but then they considered it disrespectful to the memory of the dead. As a result, it was decided that the interior will be stored until it crumbles to dust - this is approximately another three centuries.
It is difficult to find a brighter and more tragic work than a church made of bones. The Czech Republic annually receives thousands of guests from all over the world who want to see a unique creation of human hands. The ossuary is a kind of reminder of the coming apocalypse and death, which is slowly walking behind each of us.