Church of All Saints with an ossuary in the Czech Republic, resort Kutna Hora
Rating: 9,1/10 (1026 votes)  The All Saints Church, located in Selce, on the outskirts of Kutna Hora, is a Gothic chapel decorated with human bones and skulls. In total, about 40 thousand human skeletons were used to decorate the building. In 1278, King Otakar II sent Henry to the Holy Land – abbot of the Cistercian monastery located in Seltsy. Returning back, Henry scattered some of the earth brought from Calvary around the abbey cemetery. It soon became known even outside the country. The cemetery was very popular among the inhabitants of Central Europe, many of whom sought to be buried here. As a result of medieval wars, the Black Death epidemic, happened in the XIV century, and the Hussite wars, the cemetery grew very much. In 1400 in the central part of the cemetery a Gothic temple with a tomb was erected. The tomb was arranged as a warehouse for the bones extracted from the graves, which were used for reburial, since there was a sorely lack of space in the cemetery. In 1511, according to legend, a half-blind monk who was a member of the Cistercian order was engaged in the work of extracting bones from the graves. In 1703-1710, the temple was rebuilt. During the construction work, a new entrance was added to support the outward sloping wall, and the upper tier was rebuilt in the Baroque style. In 1784 the monastery was closed by order of the emperor. Later, the chapel and the monastery lands were bought by the Schwarzenberg family. In 1870, Frantisek Rint was hired by the Schwarzenbergs – a woodcarver to tidy up a pile of folded bones. The master did a great job. Bell-shaped piles of bones were collected in each corner of the cathedral, in the middle of the nave inside the building was created a huge bone candelabrum, decorated with garlands of skulls. The cathedral also has an interesting altar monstrance, which are located on the sides of the altar , the Schwarzenberg family coat of arms, as well as the signature of the master Rin, made of bones. Ossuary in Kutna Hora is today one of the most popular in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. We also recommend reading Ada Bojana Island in Montenegro, Ulcinj resort Topic: Church of All Saints with an ossuary in the Czech Republic, resort Kutna Hora. |
