At the end of the 14th century Gothic chapel of All Saints was erected in the middle of the cemetery and under it a chapel destined for the deposition of bones from abolished graves, a task which was begun by a half blind Cistercian monk after the year 1511.The present arrangement of the bones dates from 1870 and is the work of a Czech wood-carver, Master Rint (you can see his name put together from bones inside the Ossuary as well).
Sedlec Ossuary contains the remains of about 40 000 people. The largest collections of bones are arranged in the form of bells in the four corners of the chapel.The most interesting creations by Master Rint are the chandelier in the centre of the nave, containing all the bones of the human body, two monstrances beside the main altar and the coat-of arms of the Schwarzenberg noble family on the left-hand side of the chapel.
This work was created to remind us the transience of human life and the undeniable fact of death.
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