They do things a little differently here in Czechia. For instance, the basement of my church in Pittsburgh was home to Sunday school, a hanging wardrobe for choir robes, and (my personal favorite) the annual strawberry shortcake festival.
In Sedlec they use the basement for a different purpose. The first clue was the entrance.
Of course to protect the sanctity of their basement no photos are allowed but as I’ve said before, accidents do happen, and when making clever objets d’ art out of one’s ancestors and then charging the Philistines coin of the realm, which in this case is not the Euro but something called Czech koruna, you’ve got to expect a fair amount of curiosity seekers. After all, it’s featured in Atlas Obscura. At least that’s where we found it. (Official photos here.)
Saint Mary’s perched on top, turns out to be a lovely chapel.
One last shot of the forbidden ossuary from the upper floor of the chapel.
Please tell me that this is not the owners car, parked out front.
Down the road apiece is the UNESCO-listed Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. We only ducked in because it was included in our ticket for the ossuary but the interior took us by surprise. The original church, built about 1300 in High Gothic style, burned down in 1421. From 1700 to 1708 it was rebuilt in the Baroque Gothic style. The high vaulted ceiling takes your breath away.
They’ve got their own bones here, as well as relics of Vincent of Saragossa.
So let’s see what other oddities we can dig up in the land of the koruna.