Been There, Do This: Chapel of Bones in Evora, Portugal

Jan 02, 2019

"We bones that are here, we are waiting for yours."

With a warm and fuzzy entrance inscription like that, it’s no wonder that Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Evora, Portugal, is a popular spot.

It’s not just the name and welcome greeting that are morbid, though. The chapel, which is located in the Church of Saint Francis, is indeed filled with dislocated bones — and a ton of skulls, too.

Built in the 16th century by the Franciscans, the chapel did have a noble ambition beyond relieving some local cemeteries — to get us out of our heads and to focus on our common and inevitable final fate.