The Skull Chapel in Czermna

Today is the time to take a look at something, which for many people will be intriguing, maybe even exciting and for the others shocking and causing nausea. But for nobody this place will stay neutral. If you have heard about Kutna Hora in Czech Republic or Evora in Portugal you already know what I am going to write about. The Skull Chapel.

The Skull Chapel

Yes, there is a place in Poland where you can pray among humans bones and skulls. It is not like Kutna Hora Chapel, though. There is no chandelier, goblet or family emblem made of bones. Nevertheless one visit in Czermna makes a whole trip unforgettable.

The Chapel was built by a priest - Wacław Tomaszek in 1776-1804. Once he was roaming next to the church minding his own business, probably thinking about life and little ponies,when suddenly he saw bones and skulls on the surface. He called gravedigger and church keeper and together they started to dig into the ground. And they found about 20-30 thousand bodies - casualties of the wars in 17th and 18th centuries and cholera epidemy in this period. The origins of the chapel idea we should search in 1775 - one year before dicovery. Back then Tomaszek was spending time in Rome and since he saw catacombs he started to contemplate about death. It was such a shocking experience for him, that he decided to build this place. But what we can see there today? Let's find out.

Inside th Skull Chapel...

It is a small baroque chapel located between the St. Bartholomew church and the belfry. The walls and the ceiling are covered with 3 thousand tightly stacked bones and skulls. Another 20 thousand is hidden in the crypt under the ground. In front of the entrance there is a modest alter with a few the most interesting skulls and a baroque cross. Inside we can find also wooden sculptures of the angels - one of them with a trumpet, second with a scale - the symbol of the Last Judgement. 

One of the angels

The skulls exhibited on the alter belong to the gravedigger (mentioned before), the Tatar, the mayor of Czermna (with a hole after being shot) and his wife, who wanted to defend her husband with her own body. Prussians killed them, when they found out that the mayor was helping Austrians to get through the Sudeten Mountains. There is also one skull with changes caused by a disease. Apart from that we can see badly fused femur which probably belongs to the 2-meter Swede.

You may believe or not - I was there when I was 11-year old boy. After another eleven years I still remember the stories told us by the guide. But you should try this on your own. If you have never seen such a thing you shold give it a try. Maybe next time in Poland? I hope so!