Found in parts of Czech Republic, Rome, Spain, Poland and Portugal, Bone Chapels are an impressive, if not slightly disturbing shrine to Memento Mori. In Portugal, the chapels at Évora and Faro are the most famous and the best for tourists, as they have the most sociable opening hours…
In Évora, the 16th century chapel decorated with bones, skulls, and entire bodies hanging from the wall is part of the larger Royal Church of St. Francis, and was constructed by Franciscan monks.
The story goes that by the 16th century, there were as many as 43 cemeteries in and around Évora that were taking up valuable land. Not wanting to condemn the souls of the people buried there, the monks decided to build the Chapel and relocate the bones.
However, rather than interring the bones behind closed doors, the monks, who were concerned about society’s values at the time, thought it best to put them on display. They thought this would provide Évora, a town noted for its wealth in the early 1600s, with a helpful place to meditate on the transience of material things, within the unavoidable face and fate of death.
This is made clear by the thought-provoking message above the chapel door: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos,” which translates as: “We bones, are here, waiting for yours.” Similarly, above the entrance of the chapel in Faro is the inscription: “Pára aqui a considerar que a este estado hás-de chegar”, meaning “Stop here and consider, that you will reach this state too.” The Faro Chapel belongs to the 18th century Carmelite church, Nossa Senhora do Carmo.
The design of the Chapel of Bones in Evora is based on the ossuary of San Bernadino alla Ossa in Milan, Italy. The immediate view as you enter gives you some idea of its scale and the sheer number of bodies that are interred here – some 5,000 corpses. Among them, in a small white coffin by the altar, are the bones of the three Franciscan monks who founded the church in the 13th century. Also included are two desiccated corpses hanging by chains from the wall next to a cross. One is that of a child…
Inside the Capela dos Ossos a poem about the need to reflect on one’s existence hangs in an old wooden frame on one of the pillars. It is attributed to Fr. António da Ascenção Teles, parish priest of the village of São Pedro (wherein the Church of Saint Francis with its Capela dos Ossos was erected) from 1845 to 1848.
“Where are you going in such a hurry traveler? Pause… do not advance your travel; You have no greater concern Than this one: that on which you focus your sight.
Recall how many have passed from this world, Reflect on your similar end, There is good reason to reflect. If only all did the same.
Ponder, you so influenced by fate, Among all the many concerns of the world, So little do you reflect on death;
If by chance you glance at this place, Stop… for the sake of your journey, The more you pause, the further on your journey you will be.”
In every Bone Chapel, the walls and pillars are decorated in carefully arranged bones and skulls held together by cement, and the ceiling is made of white painted brick covered with death motifs. Some of the skulls have now been stolen or scribbled with graffiti.
To enter, you need to adhere to the dress code which is equally modest – no ‘short’ shorts and shoulders covered – but there are 1 Euro paper cover-ups if you need them. Before you get to the Evora crypt rooms, there is a museum explaining the history of the Capuchin Monks.
Just in case all that death should cause you to despair, at the end of the Chapel, above the altar, you can read the Latin phrases: “I die in the light” and “The day that I die is better than the day that I was born.” (Ecclesiastes, 7, 1) from Vulgate.
