Capela dos Ossos, Evora

  

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A chapel in the small town of Evora in Portugal, famous for being a kind of ossuary (cf. Sedlec): the walls and pillars of the chapel are made from human bones and skulls (from an estimated 5000 skeletons) held together with cement. A macabre inscription over the entrance reads "Nos ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos" ('We bones, lying here bare, are awaiting yours').

 
The most spooky element, however, is two semi-mummified whole bodies, partly dressed in rags, that hang from chains off the wall in one corner of the chapel. One is the body of a child and it looks grossly deformed.

 
These days glass panels serve as a kind of railing to keep visitors out of touching reach of the walls (in the past people left scribbles and graffiti, so it's an understandable move). A few information panels have been put up too.

 
There's a small admission fee of 1 EUR (and nominally an extra fee for photography).

 
Opening times: daily between 9 a.m. and 5:30 or 6 p.m., closing for lunch between 1 and 2:30 p.m., Sundays open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. only.

   
Location: the chapel is part of the larger Igreja Real de Sao Francisco (Royal Church of St. Francis), in the centre of Evora, Portugal, a bit over half a mile / 900 metres north of the train station. There are connections from Lisbon, also by bus (departing from the central bus station and operated by the company Rede).
   
Google maps locator: [38.569,-7.909]