Repositories of Bones, Part One: Ossuaries

Ossuaries can be, of course, elaborate and ornate places, sites of unique tribute to the deceased. The artistic displays of relocated human bones in ossuaries are often stunning arrangements with an impact that is not soon forgotten, as much for aesthetic force as its statement on the fleeting nature of mortality.

Originating as constructions intended to solve the logistical problem of graveyard overcrowding, ossuaries are not all fancy — some are more workaday collections, mass graves less of art than of preservation.

And ossuaries are distinct from (though simultanously similar in character to) catacombs, primarily in layout and set-up, though also a bit in nature: typically smaller rooms or buildings above-ground, ossuaries hold the bones of far fewer people than catacombs. More elaborate subterranean structures that range widely, sometimes sprawling and extending over hectares of distance, catacombs may house the remains of many thousands.

There are plentiful examples of both types of sites all over the world, though these days cremation has mostly eliminated their practical necessity. Still the prospect fascinates many, judging by the sheer volume of annual visitors to the world’s most well-known examples.

Widely practiced

Ossuaries can be found in especial abundance in Europe, where the most famous still attract tremendous numbers of visitors. Today there are still many accessible examples.

Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic is a church rather than a mass grave; it first became popular before the plague in Europe and was considered a holy place to be buried after an abbot brought a container of dirt from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. After he spread its contents on the earth in the area, many desired to be buried at the location. Today, stunning arrangements of deconstructed skeletons arranged into elaborate designs inside a temple create a mystical, enchanting effect.

Another chapel is the Palace of Bones in Evora, Prague, which dates back to the 17th century. A trademark of the city of Evora and housing 5,000 human skulls, this UNESCO world heritage site bears a welcoming message: “We bones that are here, for yours we wait.” There’s Poland, with the Chapel in Czermna, holding the remains of some 21,000 souls. And don’t even get us started on Germany; examples here are thick on the ground, so to speak. If youre interested, though, don’t pass it up. There are even some in the United States from the period before colonization.

Ossuaries stand as a reminder that our lives and deaths are shaped by space, time, and circumstance. Whether ornate or austere, these places reflect a pragmatic reverence and a spiritual sense of obligation to the traces of human lives we recognize as significant.

Each skull, each stacked femur, speaks to a long lineage of grief, practicality, and beauty shaped from necessity. The walls echo with more than bones: memory, culture, and the enduring instinct to care for our dead, even when the means of doing so take forms we no longer need, but sense and honor. Beauty is a small price to pay when the placement of names and identities is no longer possible.