Capela dos Ossos

The Chapel of Bones is located in Evora. Its walls and central pillars are covered with human skulls and other parts of skeletons, held together by cement. The chapel is dedicated to St, Francis and is built to represent the Gothic style which was popular in the 16th Century. It was built by Franciscan monks. When you enter the Chapel, above the door way it says "Our bones are inside, we are waiting for yours". That kind of freaked me out at first and I felt uncomfortable while inside. Not to mention there was skeletons of an adult and a baby hanging on the wall by the alter. In total, there are 5000 thousand skulls that are cemented within the chapel. This was unusual, yet also fascinating at the philosophy of this incredible chapel. The skeletons were collected from 42 monastic cemeteries which were taking up valuable space in Evora. They moved all the bones to a single consecrated chapel. Seeing an opportunity to contemplate and communicate the inevitability of death, the monks chose to display the bones prominently rather than storing them away.