Human Bone Chapel in Poland

A small chapel, known as the chapel of skulls, in the town of Czermna in southwest Poland has a unique and haunting décor inside.

A small chapel, known as the chapel of skulls, in the town of Czermna in southwest Poland has a unique and haunting décor inside.

Leg bones and skulls of more than 3 thousand victims of war and disease are covering the ceiling and walls of the chapel, along with a crypt underneath that has 21 thousand more remains in it, accessible only through a trapdoor.

The bones were gathered and arranged between the years of 1776 and 1804 by Vaclav Tomasek, a local priest.

He collected the bones that had been left in shallow graves from several wars and plagues in the area including the Thirty Years' War and the Silesian War, along with victims of a cholera outbreak.

Tomasek carefully cleaned the skeletons and arranged the bones based on the looks of ossuaries and catacombs that exist in Rome, Italy as a memorial for the deceased.

The skeletons of important local people including a former mayor, and uniquely shaped bones, like a skull that was deformed by the effects of syphilis, are placed on a special alter in the chapel.

After his death in 1804, Tomasek's skull was also placed on the alter.