Current Affairs Brno to open ossuary to public after surprise find of 50,000 human bones
One of the most popular destinations for visitors to the Czech Republic who venture outside Prague is the town of Kutna Hora, famous for its ossuary, or bone depository, in which thousands upon thousands of human bones are arranged into various shapes, including a chandelier. Now the Moravian capital Brno is planning to offer visitors a similar macabre treat.
Ossuary in Kutna Hora
Ahead of planned repair work on Jakubske namesti - just a stone's throw
from Brno's main square namesti Svobody - the town hall took the routine
step of commissioning archaeological research. Little could they have
expected what secrets the ground beneath the square held: the research
uncovered an estimated 50,000 human bones and skulls which evidently came
from - as in the case of Kutna Hora - a graveyard that had been closed.
The remains, believed to be from the 17th and 18th centuries, filled a
tunnel from top to bottom and were mixed with mud. At one time they had
been in orderly piles, but water and clay got into the underground chamber
and destroyed that order.
So far a third of the work has been done, though a 20-metre stretch of tunnel packed full of muddy bones still has to be excavated. The cleaned bones will then be added to those which are already being stacked into slightly sloping walls.
Ossuary in Kutna Hora
A spokesman for the company preparing the ossuary for the public says the
Brno bones are unique: while in most ossuaries bones are white due to the
fact they have been exposed to sunlight, those in Brno are a brownish
yellow due to having been underground so long.
Experts say that Jakubske namesti may not have given up all its secrets. More skulls have been found under the entrance to the square's St Jakub's church and it is believed that there are similar cellars full of bones there.
