Czech Shock: Human Bone Church Features Skull Candlesticks Instead of Masterpieces

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Travel Life Network, Chen Guanxin, compiled and reported. Materials provided by MOOK Editorial Department

When traveling in Europe, whether it's Gothic or Baroque architecture, or the interiors of churches adorned with rose windows and artworks by master craftsmenchurch interiors, visiting historic churches is always a major draw. In the Czech Republic, there is a "Bone Church," which looks like an ordinary Gothic building from the outside, but inside, instead of masterpieces, it features 40,000 human skulls, ribs, and other skeletal remains crafted into religious artifacts displayed throughout the church. These numerous and chilling decorations have made the Bone Church famous, attracting many tourists eager to witness this eerie sight surrounded by bones.

The Bone Church was originally an obscure monastery in Sedlec. In the 13th century, when the Crusaders brought back soil from Jerusalem and scattered it in the cemetery outside the monastery, it began to gain fame. Many nobles and wealthy individuals from Central Europe wanted to be buried here after death. By the 14th century, the plague struck Prague, increasing the death toll and leading to more graves—approximately 30,000 people were buried there at the time.

This continued until 1870, when the Schwarzenberg family, of German noble descent, purchased the land and hired a carpenter named František Rint to collect and carve the bones from the cemetery, fashioning them into various religious artifacts for decoration inside the church. It is conservatively estimated that he used the bones of at least 40,000 people—an astonishing number—and the site later became widely known as the "Bone Church" (Kostnice).

Upon entering the church, everywhere you look—whether it’s the windows, arches, crosses, altars, chandeliers, or the Schwarzenberg family crest—are all pieced together or adorned with skulls, femurs, and ribs. František Rint even arranged the bones to spell out his own name, placing it on the last display stand on the right wall of the church. Although the scene may be a bit frightening, those who have passed away surely never imagined that a century later, they would become part of a tourist attraction.

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