Architecture of Death

As soon as you walk through the entrance to Sedlec Kostnice, you immediately feel a stillness in the air. No matter if you have been to other ossuaries before, or if this is the first time you are stepping into one, nothing can prepare you for that first impression, and the anticipation of what you will find below.

Looking upward in the entranceway, we see three gothic-style windows that let in the morning sunlight, making this first room very bright and welcoming. In this light, the bone decorations almost seem like normal, unassuming architectural details.

Here in this unique ossuary, the human remains are not buried in the typical fashion of a grave site, but rather organically and artistically integrated into the architectural design of this charnel-house. The clean lines of gothic ribbed vaults, and the baroque curves of the balcony, are adorned with decor made up of human bones.

Garlands of skulls and femur crossbones, topped with a rosette of pelvic bones, frame the archway and stairs leading down to the rest of the ossuary. However, the most impressive part of the entrance decor, are two giant bone chalices that flank the stairs, set into half dome niches in the wall.

The construction of these chalices is absolutely stunning, with rows of femurs making up the curved lines of the cup, topped with skulls, and encircled with pelvic and sacrum bones like delicate, elegant filigree. The base of the chalices continues the use of femurs, pelvic, and sacrum bones, along with other smaller bones, wrapped onto an inner support structure.

These are truly memorable works of art, not only because of the unusual material they are made of, but also for the creative arrangement and detailing. It is very fitting to have these sculptures as the most dominant part of the entrance decor, since chalices are considered among the most sacred of church vessels.

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