Hallowe'en is celebrated across the world with costumes of ghouls, ghosts and other supernatural and undead beings, so, what better day was there to visit the Kostnice Sedlec, widely known as ‘The Bone Church’, based near the town of Kutna Hora. The trip kindly organised by Petra Fabingerova and Hana Škrdlová, so thank you to them for their hard organisational work.
On our journey east from Praha, our first stop was at the scenic Zamek Zleby Chateau, about 25 kilometers from Kutna Hora itself. The gothic architecture of the castle stands proud on a hill in a valley surrounded by the silver mines of the highlands. Founded by the Lichtenburk family around 1289, it was reconstructed after the Hussites War in the mid 15th century. Most notable within the chateau itself were the elaborate leather wall papers used to decorate almost every room.
After a traditional meal of Goulash and Dumplings at a nearby restaurant, our focus moved to the town of Kutna Hora, particularly to the All Saints Chapel and the eerie Bone Ossuary. There are many misconceptions about the chapel, one being that the entire building is made entirely of bone, rather, the inside is ornamented with about 40 000 skeletons. Two pieces of noteworthy mention were the chandelier and the coat of arms of the Schwarzenburg noble family. The chapel has its origins in 1278 when Henry, an abbot in Sedlec, returned from the Holy Land and sprinkled soil from the Gologtha to the abbey cemetery. This became a favourable burial site for most of central Europe. After the Black Death and the Hussite War the cemetery was enlarged and the exhumed skeletons were stacked in the ossuary. In 1870, Rint, employed by the Schwarzenburg family, ordered the bones into the centrepiece chandelier, the coat of arms and monstrances.
Our last stop of the trip was The Church Of Saint Barbora. Upon seeing the church you get a stunning sense of déjà vu, this is because it was designed by the same that designed the Prazsky Hrad. Construction began in 1388 but it was not completed until 1905 due to wars and financial difficulties.
We had time to visit the town, a few minutes walk from the church. The narrow town streets felt haunting and seemed spookily quiet, but then again, it was Hallowe'en.
Devan Patel
