An arrangement with the interior covered entirely with human bones - sounds like things scary house is made of , right ? But believe it or not , this is actually a church . Capela dos Ossos , or the Chapel of Bones , is located next to the Church of St. Francis in medieval Portuguese city of Evora . The 16th century chapel is a large room that were adorned with the bones of over 5,000 monks .
The decision to use human bones as building material for a church is certainly an unusual one , but there is a story to justify it . It seems that in the 16th century , Evora had about 43 cemeteries that took up way too much ground . When the decision was made to eliminate some of the cemeteries , the corpses of 5,000 monks were exhumed in an effort to save their souls from condemnation . It was decided that the remains of the monks relocated to Capela dos Ossos . However , the existing monks soon realized that it might be a better idea to put the bones on display , rather than behind closed doors . The monks were concerned about the societal values of the wealthy town of Evora . So they set about creating a place for reflection , a place where the undeniable reminder of death can help people transcend the material world .
The welcoming message on the door of the chapel is rather dull - "no que aqui estamos ossos , pelos vossos esperamos . " Which means - " We bones here , for your bones we wait . " A bit noisy reminder that we all going to die one day . I suppose it's meant to get people to the vision before they entered the chapel and begin to pray . But pray you really be difficult in a place like this - the walls are decorated with thousands and thousands of skulls and bones are arranged in decorative patterns . For an added effect , the corpses of a woman and a child hang from a wall . No one knows who they are or why there even in the chapel , but rumors have it that a powerful person is simultaneously cursed them . When they were refused burial in local cemeteries , received the corpses shelter in the chapel . I would expect the body does not really rot in there : they stunk up the place . That would not be very good for meditation , before now ?
Most seeds - decorated craze of the world is the Sedlec ossuary , Czech Republic . Unlike regular sanctuary using paintings as decorations , this one used between 40,000 and 70,000 human bones .
