The Bone Chapel

Gordon, Nick. The Scariest Places on Earth: The Bone Chapel. 2015. 24p. ISBN 978-1-600-14-946-7. Available at 393.1 GOR on the library shelves.

The Bone Chapel is one of the creepiest places on Earth. Found in the small town of Kutná Hora, the Chapel’s interior walls have been decorated with the bones of more than 40,000 people. Built in the 1200, the town became famous when a local monk returned from Jerusalem with dirt from the Holy Land. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be buried here. The Black Death added even more bodies. Eventually, the area became saturated with bones, and as new bodies were buried older ones were taken out, and their bones piled in the Chapel, transforming it in a giant crypt.

In 1870, Frantisek Rint was commissioned to deal with the bones. He created a morbid yet fascinating display of bones throughout the Chapel, with columns, chalices, a coats of arm, and even a chandelier, all made of bones.

Tourists today continue to visit this site, and most report an eery feeling of death but also of calm. You won’t believe the pictures in this book!