But a step inside reveals a chilling site. Thousands of human bones, ravaged by war and disease, are stacked on top in a macabre pattern.
Located in the old town of Czermna, the chapel's walls and ceilings are made from the bones which are intended to be a reminder of mortality and human salvation in the face of death.
A step inside Kaplica Czasze in south-western Poland reveals a chilling site. Thousands of human bones, ravaged by war and disease, are stacked on top of each to construct the building's walls and ceilings
The skulls and leg bones of over 3,000 victims are meticulously arranged over the ceilings and walls, while over 21,000 additional remains are hidden behind a trap door in a crypt below the church.
The interior reveals a repetitive design of human bones laid out a thousand times as ‘a celebration of oneness’, according to design news site Beautiful Decay.
The chapel was created after a local priest, named Vaclav Tomasek, visited shallow grave sites commemorating the fallen soldiers and civilians killed in the Silesian Wars and the Thirty Years’ War as well as those devastated by plagues and cholera.
The interior reveals a repetitive pattern repeated a thousand times. It is designed to be 'a celebration of oneness' as well as a reminder of mortality
The chapel was created after a local priest, named Vaclav Tomasek, visited shallow grave sites commemorating the fallen soldiers and civilians killed in the Silesian Wars and the Thirty Years' War as well as those devastated by plagues and cholera
The Thirty Years' War, which took place in 1618–1648, was a series of wars fought mainly in Central Europe and one of the most destructive conflicts in European history.
It was followed by the Silesian Wars in 18th-century which saw Austria and Prussia battle possession of Silesia, a historical region that is now in south-western Poland.
After seeing the poignant reminder of those who had fallen, Mr Tomasek collected and cleaned skeletal remains, embedding them in the chapel walls between 1776 and 1804.
On the church’s altar, Mr Tomasek placed the bones of important figures as well as more unusual bones disfigured by disease to elevate those who suffered in death.
These included the skull of the local mayor, bullet-ridden skeletons, a skull deformed by syphilis and the bones of a rumoured giant.
Mr Tomasek’s own skull was placed at the altar when he passed away in 1804.
After seeing the poignant reminder of those who had fallen, Mr Tomasek collected and cleaned skeletal remains, embedding them in the chapel walls between 1776 and 1804
Located in the old town of Czermna, Poland, the skeletons were placed in the walls and ceilings of the chapel between 1776 and 1804
On the church's altar, Mr Tomasek placed the bones of important figures as well as more unusual bones disfigured by disease to elevate those who suffered in death
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