Ossuary Sedlec

The Cemetery Church of All Saints

Due to repairs, the staircase leading to the attic and the main choir of Sedlec Cathedral is closed until further notice.

Tickets to Sedlec sights can only be purchased online or at the Sedlec Information Centre, 279 Zámecká Street.

Today open

9 AM - 6 PM

Admission fee

220 CZK / adult

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Reconstruction

It will run until at least 2030.

The site remains open throughout the entire reconstruction period.

The restoration of the ossuary began in 2014, with the Roman Catholic parish of Kutná Hora - Sedlec being the sole investor in all the works. For this reason, the ossuary remains open to visitors throughout the repairs. The main issue with the church was a structural defect that caused the building to deviate from its vertical axis by nearly 0.5 meters. Another significant problem was the extreme humidity in the lower chapel, which affected not only the skeletal decorations but also the masonry, plaster, and stucco decorations. The restoration of the ossuary was planned in phases to ensure that visitors would not be significantly restricted and could observe both the decorations and the ongoing work during the reconstruction.

Repair of the ossuary

Sedlec ossuary

The Church of All Saints and Ossuary is one of the most visited monuments in the Czech Republic. However, it remains a functional Roman Catholic church where masses are celebrated. The Gothic two-storey church, built in the first half of the 14th century, stood on the grounds of a former Cistercian monastery amid a vast dark cemetery. In one of its towers, an eternal light burned as a symbol of hope for resurrection, guiding medieval pilgrims from all over Europe to the Sedlec Ossuary, where they would stop, pray, and quietly contemplate their lives. The lower chapel – dark and sombre, served as a reverent resting place for bones, while the upper chapel – full of light, was a place for prayers and encounters with God. Thus, the message of this church remains unchanged over time – memento mori (remember death).

History of the ossuary

Exterior

Interior

Sights

The ossuary is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. It is difficult to determine who the author of the skeletal decoration is, when exactly it was created, and why. We know almost nothing about the people who are now buried in the ossuary. We do not know their fates, their stories, or how they lived and died. What these people have in common is that they wanted to be buried in Sedlec, that they were deeply religious, and hoped for the Last Judgment and resurrection. And these are precisely the symbols most often found in the skeletal decoration of the lower chapel. The four massive skeletal pyramids symbolize the heavenly mountain, with the crown above them representing the gateway to the heavenly kingdom. The chandelier, allegedly assembled from all the bones of the human body, symbolizes light and thus hope. The angels hovering over the Lower Chapel in the form of a skulls and crossed bones accompany a person on their journey to God's judgment. The only purely secular decoration is the Schwarzenberg coat of arms, created around 1870 as a thank you to the family that contributed to the salvation of the Sedlec ossuary.

Angel

Schwarzenberg coat of arms by František Rint, before 1870

Pyramid

A chandelier made of skeletal remains

Experience programs

Daily tours

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Night tours

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Due to repairs, the staircase leading to the attic and the main choir of Sedlec Cathedral is closed until further notice.

Tickets to Sedlec sights can only be purchased online or at the Sedlec Information Centre, 279 Zámecká Street.

Today open

9 AM - 6 PM

Admission fee

220 CZK / adult

More information

Buy tickets