Bone Church

And so to what was, without any doubt, the strangest experience of this entire pilgrimage. Underneath Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, a Francisan Capuchin church, is the utterly bizarre Cripta dei Frati Cappuccini. Sometimes more colloquially known as the Bone Church.

Here's what happened, as best as I can understand it. It was common practice throughout Europe for centuries to bury the dead for a period of time, but after the body had decomposed to exhume the bones and store them in a reverent place, leaving the ground free for fresh burials. This was perfectly normal in Britain too.

Sometimes in the 1600s the Capuchins moved to their present location in Santa Maria and brought all the bones with them. At which point, one of the friars apparently thought: why just put all these bones in the crypt? Why not do some arts and crafts with them?

The result was, I think it's fair to say, unusual. A series of alcoves with the bones of, I understand, more than 3500 people, all sorted into types (the bones, not the people) and then artistically arranged into patterns and designs. There are bone arches and collages, bone dioramas, even bone light fittings. Visitors can see the Crypt of Pelvises or the Crypt of Leg and Thigh Bones. You might not be surprised to hear that the photo is from the Crypt of Skulls. Oh, yes, some of the skeletons are entire and dressed as friars.

Visitors? Well, yes. As if it couldn't get any odder, you can pay a few euros to visit the chapels. They have signs up encouraging you to be respectful, as this is the resting place of the dead. Which is fair enough, but a little hard to square with the chirpy audio guide they issue to you on the way in, and the gift shop at the end of the row of crypts. Bone Church wine or chocolate, anyone? They don't (yet) sell any actual bones....

///cringe.leave.acre