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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sundays in my City!!

Its my favourite day of the week. Sundays in my city hosted by Unknown Mami. For those who do not me, I am May, an Indian expat living the life of a German!!! Yeah, the Germans love to holiday. I believe they plan their holiday a year in advance. Well that is one trait of theirs which we havent accomplished as yet. We have been going on impromptu holidays the past two weeks and I am eager to show you the places that have been very interesting to me. Before I proceed to describe this particular place, take a look at the pictures. If you are weak hearted, I suggest you to not proceed.


This is the well known BONE CHURCH or OSSUARY in Kutna Hora(belongs to the UNESCO list of the world cultural heritage), a little village an hour away from Prague, Czech Republic. It is believed that an abbot of the Sedlec monastery returned from a visit to Palestine with a pocketful of soil and sprinkled it on the cemetery surrounding the Chapel of All Saints.

        The graveyard then became a sought after burial site among the aristocracy of Central Europe. At the time of the thirty years war in the 17th century, the number of burial outgrew the space available, the older remains were exhumed and stored in the chapel. Urban myth has it that a monk went mad and made things from the bones, and there are stories to suggest that partially blind monks entrusted with the care of the chapel were the first to begin piling the bones in geometric shapes. 

There are strings of skulls and bones hanging from the ceiling as well as a chandelier. The chapel now contains the bones of upto 40,000 people. The visit to this chapel is quite eerie and I was wondering, was it this way that the dead wanted to be remembered??? Also couldn't help but wonder how did these ladies work day in and out surrounded by eerieness. I hope I didn't scare you with my Sunday posting. 


For more not so eerie Sundays head over to Unknown Mami and take a look!!!



15 comments:

  1. Interesting! I guess when you're surrounded by so much death, one might go mad thinking there's got to something I can create out all these 'leftover' bones. Kind of like us trying to clean our fridge. Just a thought.
    Wonderful pictures. I like to go there.

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  2. Are these really real?! And is this in Germany? Definitely disturbing, if that's the case. Thanks for sharing this interesting place :)

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  3. Of course! A gift shop in the middle of the "cemetery". Sorry, but that really cracks me up.

    Creepy is a good way to describe this place. Not sure I'd want to get any closer than via your photos. But I'm glad you shared it. YOu just never know what you might see in a SIMC.

    Thanks,
    jj

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  4. My goodness that is something to take in for sure! lol wonderful photos you took..and hey after being surrounded by the constant vision of death, it just might make you appreciate your life a little more..lol

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  5. Lol at the gift shop! What sort of mementos did they sell? Definitely an interesting place, thankyou for sharing the story xx

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  6. That is so cool. Made me feel like a tourist in your town! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Wow. That is so unique. Who knew something like that even existed.

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  8. That is so creepy! Cool, but creepy definitely wins out! Very fascinating.

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  9. Oh that is so cool! But dont know if I would want to work there. My first thought is the smell! =)

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  10. I find it fascinating, but very disturbing. I think it would stay with me for a long time and I don't think I could work there.

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  11. Wow!! I love this bone church! I think I will now be adding this to my list of places to visit before I die. Amazing photos! Thanks for visiting my blog today for SIMC! :-D

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  12. Wow! I didn't know a place like this existed! Very interesting, but "eerie" as you stated. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. Wow! That is creepy and ornate and intriguing all at the same time! Fabulous SIMC. Have a great week, May.

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