Bone-chilling Chapel

In and around Prague, you will find churches of stone, brick, iron, glass… and bones. Kutná Hora, a picturesque village one hour from Prague, is both famous and infamous for its ossuary, a chapel filled with artistic and religious creations made entirely from parts of the human skeleton.

Originally founded around silver mines, the town boomed until the Black Death halted fortune seekers dead in their tracks. The Cistercian Order built a chapel to house the extra corpses from the overflowing cemetery, and in a fit of whimsy (or possibly insanity), one monk began designing flowers from pelvises and crania. He never completed the ossuary, but in 1870, artist František Rint did, adorning the chapel with the remains of over 40,000 people.

Today, tourists admire the chandelier, comprised of every bone imaginable, and suspended from the ceiling by jawplates. While some marvel at the skeletal crest of arms, others find the chapel macabre and disrespectful of the dead. Though the town's residents are similarly divided in their opinion of their claim to fame, make the decision for yourself. If you are in the area, Kutná Hora is a must-see.

Hourly trains run from Hlavni Nadrazi (1hr., round-trip 112Kc). Open daily Apr.-Sept. 8am-6pm; Oct. 9am-noon and 1-5pm; Nov.-Mar. 9am-noon and 1-4pm. 35Kc, students 20Kc).