A Strange Tourist Attraction One Hour East of Me. Dogs not allowed.

[Peter Lemkin]

Sedlec Ossuary Why Dead People Make the Most Fabulous Decorations

Nate Robert in #Czech Republic Dec 11, 2012 http://www.yomadic.com/sedlec-ossuary/






Sedlec Ossuary- looking up at the Chandelier made from at least one of every bone in the human body.

Bring out your dead a whole pile of bones at Sedlec Ossuary

Human bone shield it's a favourite of mine at the Sedlec Ossuary, Kutna Hora

The Sedlec Ossuary- or "Bone Church", located in the town of Kutna Hora, an hour or so from Prague, is amazing for two reasons. First, it's decorated with the bones of 70,000 dead plague infected humans. Second, Sedlec Ossuary was the subject of an article I did on the very first day of Yomadic. And well, that first post is the only page on Yomadic where nobody left a single comment. I took this to heart. There was only one thing to do. A couple of weeks ago, I returned to the Sedlec Ossuary, to redeem myself.
That first Sedlec Ossuary article was entirely presented with grainy, moody, good old fashioned black and white film (film that was produced locally in the Czech Republic no less). I felt the result perfectly complimented the mood of the somewhat macabre and mysterious Sedlec Ossuary. This time around, I used my Fuji Xpro1, a digital camera. But, it almost didn't work out this way.
Bones, bones, bones, bones.

Nice window, sweet bone detail Sedlec Ossuary

This shot I made to compare digital to same pic, taken on my film camera the last time I was here. Hmmm intriguing… (strokes chin)

I have been known to rabbit on about the incredible of Fuji X-Pro 1, calling it the best travel camera of 2012. I still hold this opinion. However, I still prefer the look, feel, and beauty, of black and white film. So, the day before I visited Sedlec Ossuary this time around, I purchased a new camera from one of my favourite camera shops in the world, located in downtown Prague.
It was glorious. A forty-year-old Yashica medium-format twin-lens reflex film camera. Complete with leather case flocked with red velvet. The kind and attractive young lady that served me really knew her stuff. We went over every function, tested every lever, pushed every button, then I loaded some film, paid her for her troubles, and hit the streets outside. It was time to get some street shots in before heading to the Sedlec Ossurary to take the best photos that I am humanly capable of.
Every views a winner baby, that's no lie (that's no lie). Sedlec Ossuary, ceiling bones.

Hi! I'm a human bone angel! Sedlec Ossuary, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.

AHHHH!

JESUS CHRIST! Sedlec Ossuary


Outside the camera shop, I had just one look through the huge Yashica finder, and was smitten. As I do with every new film camera I buy, the first thing I did was to take a photo of Phillipa. I then handed her my digital Fuji, and delicately explained that my new/old camera would be the number one priority in my life for the next ten years, probably more.
Phillipa would need to take over the day-to-day photography duties of Yomadic, to allow me to concentrate on producing medium-format film photos of some merit. And, this would take time, as I had already mentioned. Was she even listening to me?
About 4 photos later, maybe twenty minutes had passed, strolling around the fairy-tale old city of Prague, the camera malfunctioned. It wouldn't wind on the film. I had owned my new favourite camera for less than half an hour. It was a new record.
I returned to the shop, a non-English speaking technician inspected the camera. When he spoke to me, the only words I could understand were "transport malfunction". The shop refunded my money, I shrugged my shoulders and took the Fuji back from Phillipa.
What's an acceptable number of Sedlec Ossuary photos? A billion.

Sedlec Ossuary, looking up again.

Presented without comment. The Sedlec Ossuary Kutna Hora.

Yep, they're real.

It be gettin' all skull crazy up in hurrr (gizzoogle.net translation).

Sedlec Ossuary bone stack. One of four.

[David Guyatt]

All I can say is: bizarre.

[Magda Hassan]

I was recently watching a documentary on King Ludwig of Germany. The one who built the mini Versailles replica and the fairy tale castle. In his family and with himself the family member, after death, was dismembered and the parts buried in chapels in various places around Barvaria and there were bits of ossified bodies in all these chapels. Seems like some sort of territorial staking out in the after life or this one.

[David Guyatt]

It sounds as though King Ludwig might have been replaying the mythical death and dismemberment of Osiris, who is said to have been dismembered into 14 pieces with the pieces then hidden by his brother Seth?

The whole thing about the ossuary story reminds me of those supposedly "eternal lamps" that were placed in certain tombs and which bore a glimmering flame for ever after. Very archetypal.

[Peter Lemkin]

I've been here twice - both long ago. It is bizarre and somewhat unique. In this part of Europe about 1/3 of the population died in the Black Death [Plague] and at the time they had NO idea what was causing it - usually thinking it was a punishment from the heavens or other such. The number of deaths was so fast and numerous there were not enough people able or willing to bury the dead. This was a unique way to deal with the remains. The bones used were just from those who died locally...and it was not a big city...though it was a very important one at the time - silver mining and mint of the silver. The price for entering is not high, unless you want to take photos...there is a charge for each camera and who doesn't want to take photos of this place. Even outside there are stacks of bones to use as replacements, should some inside decay or be damaged. My dog was very confused and had to be left outside...but she saw and smelled all the bones. Coming plagues may well do similar to the human population...but that is another matter....

[Peter Lemkin]

Restorers to bone up on skills for Kutná Hora ossuary makeover

20-03-2014 15:33 | Ian Willoughby

Containing thousands of human bones arranged in various shapes, including achandelier and coat of arms, an ossuary outside the Central Bohemian townof Kutná Hora is perhaps the Czech Republic's most ghoulish touristattraction. However, the "bone church" now faces extensive repair work raising worries over how to reassemble some formations afterwards.


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Photo: CTKEvery year the ossuary in the basement of a Roman Catholic church in Sedlecon the outskirts of Kutná Hora draws upwards of quarter of a milliontourists from around the world.
It is a macabre spot, housing the bones of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000people who died during the mid-14th century Black Death and the HussiteWars almost 100 years later.
The bones are arranged into all kinds of formations, from the crest of thelocal aristocratic rulers the Schwarzenbergs to the signature of woodcarverFrantišek Rint, who the family hired to create the eerie designs in the1870s.
Today the Sedlec "bone church" is suffering from structural faultsand, administrators say, requires extensive repairs. The first phase,focused on the roof and its frame, will get underway in July.
Photo: CTKA subsequent stage will be more complicated. The biggest structures in thebasement, four bell-shaped mounds of bones, have to be temporarily removedas they are adjacent to supporting columns in need of repair.
Sedlec parish representative Petr Blažek describes what will happen.
"We have to take those pyramids apart completely, one after the other,and to document, layer by layer, how the pyramids are composed. We willthen respectfully remove the bones and repair those spaces, safeguardingthe columns structurally, plastering the walls and implementing measuresagainst rising damp, and so on. Then we will return the bones, layer bylayer, to the form they are in today."
Unsurprisingly, there are concerns that reassembling the large mounds ofbones in their original shape could prove a huge challenge.
Photo: CTK"At this moment we actually don't know what is holding the bonestogether in those pyramids, if there is a supporting system holding themtogether we just don't know. So that makes it more complicated forus. We do have concerns. But we believe that it is necessary to undertakethese repairs. If we didn't, it wouldn't be long before nothingremained of this important historical landmark. It would fall into evergreater disrepair."
The good news for would-be visitors is that the Sedlec ossuary will remainopen when the repair work is going on in the next couple of years.