Skull Chapel Explained

Skull Chapel
Native Name:Kaplica Czaszek
Native Name Lang:pl
Pushpin Map:Poland
Coordinates:50.4515°N 16.2419°W
Location:Kudowa-Zdrój
Country:Poland
Denomination:Catholic
Architectural Type:Chapel
Functional Status:Preserved
Heritage Designation:Cultural heritage site
Designated Date:10 May 1960
Style:Baroque
Years Built:1776–1784

The Skull Chapel (Polish: Kaplica Czaszek)[1] is an ossuary chapel located in the Czermna district of Kudowa-Zdrój, in southwestern Poland. Built in Baroque style in the last quarter of the 18th century, the temple serves as a mass grave with thousands of skulls and human skeletal remains adorning its interior walls, floor, ceiling, and foundations. The Skull Chapel is the only such monument in Poland, and one of five in Europe.[2]

History

The chapel was built in 1776 by local Bohemian parish priest Václav Tomášek. It is the mass grave of people who died during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), three Silesian Wars (1740–1763), and people who died because of cholera epidemics, plague, syphilis, and hunger.[3] [4]

Together with sacristan J. Schmidt and grave digger J. Langer, father Tomášek who was inspired by the Capuchin cemetery while on a pilgrimage to Rome,[5] collected the casualties' bones, cleaned and put them in the chapel within 18 years (from 1776 to 1794). Walls of this small, baroque church are filled with three thousand skulls, and there are also bones of another 21 thousand people interred in the basement. The skulls of people who built the chapel, including Tomášek, were placed in the center of the building and on the altar in 1804. Inside are a crucifix and two carvings of angels with Latin inscriptions that read "arise from the dead" and "come to judgment".[6] A recording inside the church available in three languages (Polish, Czech and German) explains the history of the chapel.

After World War II ended in 1945, a group of volunteers dedicated themselves to restoring the chapel to its former glory. Their efforts paid off, and the Skull Chapel was soon successfully restored.[7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kaplica Czaszek: The Chapel of Skulls. Atlas Obscura. 14 October 2015.
  2. Web site: 6 Creepy Churches Made of Bones. 14 October 2011. 14 October 2015.
  3. Web site: This Creepily Beautiful Chapel in Czermna, Poland, Is Constructed Out of Thousands of Human Bones. Perrin Doniger. Smithsonian. 14 October 2015.
  4. Web site: Duszniki Zdrój, Kudowa Zdrój, Polanica Zdrój, Zieleniec i okolice. Andrzej. Koźmiński. August 18, 1973. Sport i Turystyka. Google Books.
  5. Web site: Kaplica Czaszek - najbardziej niezwykłe miejsce Polsce. Wirtualna Polska Media. S.A.. 17 December 2015. 27 October 2018.
  6. Web site: Eerie Skull Chapel in Poland Made of 3,000 Bones (PHOTOS). 4 November 2013. The Weather Channel. 14 October 2015.
  7. Web site: 2023-04-18 . Czermna's Skull Chapel: The Fascinating Exhibit of 3000 Skulls and Countless Bones . 2023-04-21 . ULUKAYIN English . en-US.