6 Creepy Churches Made of Bones

6 of the creepiest churches made out of bones.

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/gorgeous-recycled-pet-bottle-chandelier-brightens-up-the-london-design-festival/" target="_blank">Chandeliers</a> made of bones? An architectural arch lined with skulls? These aren’t bloody scenes from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251736/" target="_blank">House of 1000 Corpses</a>, they're typical parts of your run-of-the-mill ossuary! When graves and catacombs became over-crowded with bones largely due to the plague, churches began sorting and placing the bones in designated bone rooms. During the 16th and 17th centuries, churches around the world began applying an <a href="http://inhabitat.com/creepy-camera-made-from-150-year-old-human-skull/" target="_blank">artistic touch to the bones</a>, arranging them in their interiors decoratively as a reminder to its parishioners of the fragility of life. Read on to get a peek into our favorite bone churches - if you dare....

Rome’s <a href="http://www.cappucciniviaveneto.it/cappuccini_ing.html" target="_blank">Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins</a> is decorated with the remains of over 4,000 friars who died between 1500 and 1870. Once visited by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_de_Sade" target="_blank">Marquis de Sade</a>, the bones are arranged in Baroque and Rococo style. The skeletons of three friars, resembling Macabre himself, greet visitors to the church. <br> <a href="http://www.cappucciniviaveneto.it/cappuccini_ing.html" target="_blank">+ Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins</a>

Inspired by Our Lady of the Conception, the <a href="http://www.sedlecossuary.com/" target="_blank">Sedlec Ossuary</a> is a small chapel in a suburb in the Czech Republic. The bone chilling chandeliers (made from every bone in the human body), skull lined arches and pyramids are made from 40,000-70,000 skeletons. A half blind monk stacked the bones into pyramids in 1511, but <a href="http://inhabitat.com/maskull-lasserre-painstakingly-carves-creepy-sculptures-into-everyday-objects/" target="_blank">woodcarver</a> Frantisek Rint was commissioned by the Schwarzenberg family to redesign the bones 1870. Rint also designed the Schwarzenberg coat of arms near the entrance. <a href="http://www.sedlecossuary.com/" target="_blank">+ Sedlec Ossuary</a>

Lima’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_San_Francisco,_Lima" target="_blank">Monastery of San Francisco</a>, a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/italian-alps-barn-renovated-into-a-solar-powered-contemporary-retreat/" target="_blank">UNESCO World Heritage site</a>, contains the bones of Lima dwellers until 1808. The catacombs, which are underneath the church, are connected by secret passageways which lead from the chapel to the Tribunal of the Inquisition. Skulls and femur bones can be found arranged in large circular geometric patterns deep within the ground. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_San_Francisco,_Lima" target="_blank">+ Monastery of San Francisco</a>

The small and unassuming <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bernardino_alle_Ossa" target="_blank">San Bernardino alle Ossa</a> appears to be a modest church from the outside and even in. But a set of heavy double doors leads to the side chapel’s decorative ossuary, which contains walls of stacked bones, arranged in crucifix shapes. In 1679 Giovanni Andrea Biffi was asked to restore the chapel, after a fire from almost 400 years before and arranged the bones decoratively. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bernardino_alle_Ossa" target="_blank">+ San Bernardino alle Ossa</a>

Bodies from victims of the Thirty Years’ War and the Silesian Wars adorn the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_Chapel_in_Czermna" target="_blank"> Czermna Chapel</a> in Poland. Built in 1176 by a local priest, bones surround visitors on the walls, and stretching in <a href="http://inhabitat.com/helen-altmans-spicy-skull-sculptures-are-a-creepy-feast-for-the-senses/" target="_blank">skull</a> and crossbones over the ceiling- only they are real bones and not pirate décor. Builders of the chapel are especially honored- their skills can be found in the center of the chapel and placed on the altar. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_Chapel_in_Czermna" target="_blank">+ Czermna Chapel</a>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_Chapel_in_Czermna" target="_blank"></a>Located in the walled medieval city of Evora, Portugal, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capela_dos_Ossos" target="_blank">Capela dos Ossos</a> is a 16^th century Franciscan <a href="http://inhabitat.com/wim-delvoyes-creepy-stained-glass-windows-are-made-from-recycled-x-rays/" target="_blank">chapel lined with skulls and bones</a> that stretch over the interior groin vaulting and all over the walls. Unlike the decorative bones of the other chapels, two full corpses hang from chains, left in their entirety- one of a man and one of a child, with “Better is the day of death then the day of birth” written near them on the ceiling. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capela_dos_Ossos" target="_blank">+ Capela dos Ossos</a> The intricate décor of bone churches was a way for churches to make use of excess bones, leaving a haunting reminder of mortality.

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/gorgeous-recycled-pet-bottle-chandelier-brightens-up-the-london-design-festival/" target="_blank">Chandeliers</a> made of bones? An architectural arch lined with skulls? These aren’t bloody scenes from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251736/" target="_blank">House of 1000 Corpses</a>, they're typical parts of your run-of-the-mill ossuary! When graves and catacombs became over-crowded with bones largely due to the plague, churches began sorting and placing the bones in designated bone rooms. During the 16th and 17th centuries, churches around the world began applying an <a href="http://inhabitat.com/creepy-camera-made-from-150-year-old-human-skull/" target="_blank">artistic touch to the bones</a>, arranging them in their interiors decoratively as a reminder to its parishioners of the fragility of life. Read on to get a peek into our favorite bone churches - if you dare....