Editing Sedlec Ossuary

{{Short description|Chapel in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic}}
{{Coord|49|57|43|N|15|17|18|E|display=title}}
[[File:Kostnice Sedlec.JPG|thumbnail|Chapel interior]]

The '''Sedlec Ossuary''' ({{langx|cs|Kostnice v Sedlci}}; {{langx|de|Sedletz-Beinhaus}}) is a [[Roman Catholic]] [[chapel]], located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: {{Lang|cs|Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých}}), part of the former [[Sedlec Abbey]] in Sedlec, a suburb of [[Kutná Hora]] in the [[Czech Republic]]. The [[ossuary]] is estimated to contain the [[skeletons]] of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Geographic|first=National|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNqDFSxR8-MC&q=sedlec+ossuary&pg=PA339|title=Sacred Places of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Most Peaceful and Powerful Destinations|date=2008|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=978-1-4262-0336-7|pages=339|language=en}}</ref> The ossuary is among the most visited [[tourist attraction]]s of the Czech Republic, drawing over 200,000 visitors annually.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180415063601/http://www.nipos-mk.cz/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Statistika-2009_1dil_100922.pdf NIPOS: Statistika kultury 2009 – I. díl – kulturní dědictví (muzea, galerie a památkové objekty)]</ref>

Four bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. A chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of [[List of bones of the human skeleton|every bone in the human body]], hangs from the center of the [[nave]] with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Other works include piers and [[monstrance]]s flanking the [[altar]], a [[coat of arms]] of the [[House of Schwarzenberg]], and the signature of [[František Rint]], also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bicknell|first1=Jeanette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYWiDwAAQBAJ&q=Franti%C5%A1ek+Rint&pg=PT79|title=Philosophical Perspectives on Ruins, Monuments, and Memorials|last2=Judkins|first2=Jennifer|last3=Korsmeyer|first3=Carolyn|date=2019|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-38063-8|language=en}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Hřbitovní kaple Všech Svatých v Sedlci u Kutné Hory.jpg|thumb|left|Chapel exterior]]
In 1278, Henry, the [[abbot]] of the [[Cistercian]] [[monastery]] in Sedlec, was sent to the [[Holy Land]] by King [[Otakar II of Bohemia|Ottokar II of Bohemia]]. He returned with a small amount of earth he had removed from [[Golgotha]] and sprinkled it over the abbey [[cemetery]]. The word of this pious act soon spread and the cemetery in Sedlec became a desirable [[burial]] site throughout [[Central Europe]].

In the mid 14th century, during the [[Black Death]] and after the [[Hussite Wars]] in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in the abbey cemetery, so it had to be greatly enlarged.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Duca|first=Marc Di|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_rYckpU9GYC&q=sedlec+enlarged&pg=PA132|title=Czech Republic: The Bradt Travel Guide|date=2006|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-150-0|pages=132|language=en}}</ref><ref name="sedlecinfo">{{cite web | url=https://www.sedlec.info/en/ossuary/history/ | title=Ossuary history}}</ref>

Around 1400, a [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel to be used as an [[ossuary]] for the mass graves unearthed during construction, or simply slated for demolition to make room for new burials.

After 1511, the task of [[exhumation|exhuming]] skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel was given to a half-blind [[monk]] of the order according the legend.<ref name="sedlecinfo"/>

Between 1703 and 1710, a new entrance was constructed to support the front wall, which was leaning outward, and the upper chapel was rebuilt. This work, in the Czech [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style, was designed by [[Jan Santini Aichel]].

In 1870, [[František Rint]], a woodcarver, was employed by the [[House of Schwarzenberg|Schwarzenberg]] family to put the bone heaps into order, yielding a [[macabre]] result. The signature of Rint, also executed in bone, appears on the wall near the entrance to the chapel.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murray|first=Sarah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHS2tijZtRoC&q=Franti%C5%A1ek+Rint&pg=PA215|title=Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre – How We Dignify the Dead|date=2011|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4299-8929-9|language=en}}</ref>

==In media==
In 1970, the 100th anniversary of Rint's contributions, Czech filmmaker [[Jan Švankmajer]] was commissioned to document the ossuary.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brandesky|first=Joe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h--tparV9YEC&q=sedlec+svankmajer&pg=PA24|title=Czech Theatre Design in the Twentieth Century: Metaphor and Irony Revisited|year= 2007|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-1-58729-712-0|language=en}}</ref> The result was a 10-minute-long frantic-cut film of skeletal images overdubbed with an actual tour-guide's neutral voice narration. This version was initially banned by the Czech Communist authorities for alleged [[subversion]], {{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} and the soundtrack was replaced by a brief spoken introduction and a [[jazz]] arrangement by [[Zdeněk Liška]] of the [[poem]] "{{Lang|fr|Comment dessiner le portrait d'un oiseau}}" ("How to Draw the Portrait of a Bird") by [[Jacques Prévert]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Johnson|first=Keith Leslie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-ZCDwAAQBAJ&q=sedlec+svankmajer+soundtrack&pg=PT61|title=Jan Svankmajer|year=2017|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-05007-7|language=en}}</ref> Since the [[Velvet Revolution]], the original tour guide soundtrack has been made available.

In the documentary ''[[Long Way Round]]'', [[Ewan McGregor]] and [[Charley Boorman]] stop to see this church. [[Dan Cruickshank]] also views the church in his ''[[Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture|Adventures in Architecture]]''.

The ossuary is a major plot device in the [[John Connolly (author)|John Connolly]] novel ''The Black Angel''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Connolly|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vg1nCgAAQBAJ&q=sedlec+black+angel&pg=PP1|title=The Black Angel: A Charlie Parker Thriller|year=2015|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-5011-1583-7|language=en}}</ref>

The ossuary is used as a location for the [[Dungeons & Dragons (2000 film)|''Dungeons & Dragons'' movie]]<ref>{{cite web|title=My Czech Republic|url=http://www.myczechrepublic.com/czech_culture/filming_locations.html|publisher=My Czech Republic|access-date=20 July 2012}}</ref> and the movie ''[[Blood & Chocolate (film)|Blood & Chocolate]]''.

In April 2002, German author [[Jason Dark]] featured the ossuary in issue 1240 ''Das Knochenkreuz'' of his long-running [[dime novel]] series ''[[John Sinclair (German fiction)|Geisterjäger John Sinclair]]''. Spanish artist [[Vicenç Badalona Ballestar|Vicente Ballestar]] depicted the chapel's [[monstrance]] of bones on the novel's cover.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dark|first=Jason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NundCgAAQBAJ|title=Geisterjäger John Sinclair – Band 1240: Das Knochenkreuz|year=2002|publisher=Bastei Lübbe|isbn=978-3-8387-3974-8|language=de}}</ref>

The ossuary was featured in ''[[Ripley's Believe it or Not]]'' and is described by [[Cara Seymour]] in the final scene of the film ''[[Adaptation (film)|Adaptation]]''.

The ossuary influenced Dr. Satan's lair in the [[Rob Zombie]] film ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jan Strusiewicz |first=Cezary |date=27 October 2009 |title=The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth |url=http://www.cracked.com/article/181_the-6-creepiest-places-earth_p2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712055117/http://www.cracked.com/article/181_the-6-creepiest-places-earth_p2/ |archive-date=12 July 2012 |access-date=12 July 2012 |publisher=Cracked.com}}</ref>

The ossuary appeared on two versions of ''[[The Amazing Race]]'': ''[[The Amazing Race Australia 1]]'' and ''[[HaMerotz LaMillion 2]]''.<ref>{{cite episode|title=It's Just Like Where's Wally|series=[[The Amazing Race Australia]]|season=1|number=7|network=[[Seven Network]]|date=27 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode|title=The Baptism of Fire!|series=[[HaMerotz LaMillion]]|season=2|number=10|network=[[Channel 2 (Israeli TV channel)|Channel 2]]|date=27 November 2011}}</ref>

The bone chandelier was featured on the cover and in the music video for the single "''Schwarzer Sarg''" by Japanese group [[Yousei Teikoku|Yōsei Teikoku]].

A photograph of the chapel's interior was also used as the cover art for the 1998 album ''[[Nightwork (album)|Nightwork]]'', by Swedish [[Progressive metal|progressive]] [[black metal]] band [[Diabolical Masquerade]].

In the game ''[[Kingdom Come: Deliverance II]]'', Henry, the player character, goes to the ossuary and arranges the bones into pyramids. The ossuary is presented as almost empty and in disarray. It also features the blind monk of the legend, whom they called ''Morticius''. 

<gallery heights="170px" caption="The Sedlec Ossuary" perrow="6">
File:Sedlec Ossuary Entrance.jpg|Entrance
File:SedlecInitials.JPG|Signature of F. Rint written with bones
File:SedlecTrumpet.JPG|A close-up of a decoration
File:Kostnice03.jpg|Schwarzenberg coat-of-arms made with bones
File:Sedlec-Ossuary.jpg|Chandelier made of bones and skulls
File:Sedlec Ossuary-2010-06-18.jpg|Coins left as offering
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, Lima|Basilica and Convent of San Francisco]]
* [[Capela dos Ossos]]
* [[Capuchin Crypt]]
* [[San Bernardino alle Ossa]]
* [[Skull Chapel]]
* [[Skull Tower]]
* [[Catacombs of Paris|Paris Catacombs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sedlec Ossuary}}
* {{Official}}
* [https://horror-world.com/czech-republic-church-of-bones/ Czech Republic Church of Bones: Feel The Horror In Your Bones]

{{Death and mortality in art}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:15th-century establishments in Bohemia]]
[[Category:Ossuaries]]
[[Category:Jan Santini Aichel buildings]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic cemeteries in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Human trophy collecting]]
[[Category:Visionary environments]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kutná Hora]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Central Bohemian Region]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic chapels in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Cemeteries established in the 15th century]]