Sedlec Ossuary

The Sedlec Ossuary (Bone Church) in Kutná Hora is one of the most unusual religious sites in the Czech Republic — a Gothic cemetery church dedicated to All Saints, in the Sedlec district, whose interior is decorated almost entirely with human bones. It forms part of a former Cistercian abbey founded in 1142 and has drawn curious travelers for generations, more for its macabre artistry than for conventional sightseeing.

Why is a church decorated with bones?

The story begins in the 13th century, when the abbot of the Sedlec monastery brought back a handful of soil from the Holy Land and scattered it over the local cemetery. Word of this "holy ground" spread across Central Europe, and burial at Sedlec quickly became highly sought after. Successive waves of plague in the 14th century and the Hussite Wars that followed filled the cemetery many times over, eventually pushing the number of buried remains into the tens of thousands. As space ran out, bones were exhumed and stored beneath the chapel, waiting for a purpose no one had yet imagined.

That purpose arrived at the end of the 19th century, when the Schwarzenberg family commissioned a local woodcarver, František Rint, to organize and artistically arrange the accumulated remains. The result is what visitors see today: garlands, pyramids, and even the Schwarzenberg coat of arms rendered entirely in bone, complete with its famous detail of a raven pecking out the eye of a defeated enemy.

What will you actually see inside?

The centerpiece is a massive bone chandelier hanging from the nave's ceiling, reputedly containing at least one of every bone found in the human body. Four towering pyramids of skulls and femurs stand in the chapel's corners, alongside chalices and garlands fashioned from bone, and the Schwarzenberg crest itself. Estimates put the number of individuals represented at somewhere between forty and seventy thousand. The setting mixes the chapel's austere Gothic bones with Baroque additions from a later renovation, producing an atmosphere that is equal parts solemn and unsettling.

How do you get to the Ossuary?

The chapel sits in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora, roughly two kilometers from the historic town center and its famous St. Barbara's Cathedral. It's only a short walk from Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží railway station, which makes it a natural first stop for anyone arriving by train. Most visitors see it as a day trip from Prague — the train ride takes about an hour from the capital's main station. Drivers will find parking available near the site.

When should you visit?

The Ossuary is open year-round, but queues build up in summer and on weekends, when day-trippers from Prague arrive in large numbers. Early opening hours and weekdays outside peak season offer the calmest visit. Because the interior is small, the number of people allowed inside at once is often limited, which can extend waiting times further during busy periods.

Frequently asked questions

How many bones are in the Sedlec Ossuary? Estimates suggest the remains of forty to seventy thousand people, accumulated over several centuries of burials in the Sedlec cemetery.

Who arranged the bones into decorations? The current interior is the work of František Rint, a woodcarver hired by the Schwarzenberg family, who organized the bones and created pieces such as the chandelier and family crest in the late 19th century.

How much time should you plan for a visit? The chapel itself is small, so a visit typically takes fifteen to thirty minutes, though you should allow extra time for queuing during high season.

Can the Ossuary be combined with the rest of Kutná Hora? Yes — it's close to the train station, and from there visitors can continue on to St. Barbara's Cathedral and the historic town center, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.