Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Austria for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Belgium for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Germany for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Spain for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to France for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Italy for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Sweden for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Bulgaria for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Denmark for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Czechia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Estonia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Finland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Greece for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Hungary for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Ireland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Italy for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Luxembourg for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Latvia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Poland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Portugal for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Slovenia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Slovakia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Cyprus for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Malta for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Romania for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Europe | Shipping to selected EU countries. For other shipping destinations, click here for more information.Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Austria for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Belgium for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Germany for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Spain for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to France for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Italy for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Sweden for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Bulgaria for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Denmark for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Czechia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Estonia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Finland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Greece for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Hungary for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Ireland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Italy for orders over €100. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Luxembourg for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Latvia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Poland for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Portugal for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Slovenia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Slovakia for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Cyprus for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Malta for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Sign up for 10% off your first order. | Free Shipping to Romania for orders over €200. T&Cs apply
Europe | Shipping to selected EU countries. For other shipping destinations, click here for more information.HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
May 27, 2015 2 min read
Nothing can prepare you for the sight you’ll encounter as you enter the Sedlec Ossuary (better known as “the bone church”) in the small city of Kutna Hora. Located 1.5 hours east of Prague, Kutna Hora is an unassuming town with a mining background and an astounding secret hiding inside a small Roman Catholic chapel.
The secret? The chapel contains the bones of an estimated 70,000 people, artistically arranged on the walls, the altar and the ceiling. There’s even a chandelier made entirely of human bones. The result is so outstanding that the ossary is now one of only 12 World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic and one of the most visited sights in the country.
The origin of the bones is a little obscure. Many come from victims of the mid 14th century Black Death plague that devastated Europe. An estimated 80 to 200 million people died in Europe during the plague and bodies were buried anywhere they could be fit, which means most ended up in mass graves near churches or out in the fields. Other remains might have come from wars (especially the Hussite wars that rocked the Kingdom of Bohemia in the early to mid-1400s) and subsequent disasters that struck the area. Originally buried at the local cemetery, the bones were unearthed half a century later, during the construction of a nearby abbey.
It wasn’t until the early 1500s, however, that the construction of the ossary became a reality, under the guidance of a half-blind monk in charge of the chapel.
Construction and reordering of the bones didn’t stop until the 19th century. Much of the later work is attributed to František Rint of Česká Skalice, a woodcarver and carpenter employed by the Schwarzenberg family to transform the ossary. Several members of the aristocratic Schwarzenberg family were avid patrons of the arts, paying for reconstruction and artistic work in palaces, churches and castles around the country.
The result of Rint’s work is undeniable: a macabre display of death that attracts over 200,000 visitors from around the world every year. Of note are the four chandeliers and the Schwarzenberg family coat of arms, all built entirely of bones.
August 13, 2024 5 min read
Be the first to know about upcoming sales and promos. Get a 10% discount coupon when you subscribe!
Be the first to know about Pacsafe
product releases, news and content.