The European interest in human bones reached an apex with this Polish chapel. The interior is lined entirely with bones, and not those of saints and martyrs:
The skulls and leg bones of over 3,000 victims of wars and plagues cover the walls and ceiling
For example,
Note that this wasn't a medieval project, but came straight from the last years of the Age of Reason:
Between 1776 and 1804, the local priest, Vaclav Tomasek, painstakingly gathered, cleaned and carefully arranged skeletons recovered from numerous, shallow mass graves left by the Thirty Years’ War, Silesian Wars and cholera outbreaks. Modeled off of similar ossuaries and catacombs in Rome, the chapel was intended as a shrine for the dead, as well as a “memento mori” for the living.
On the church’s altar, Tomasek placed the bones of important figures and curiosities, including the skull of the local mayor, skulls with bullet holes, a skull deformed by syphilis and the bones of a supposed giant. When the chapel's creator passed away in 1804, his skull was placed on the altar as well.
(thanks to Christel Broady on Facebook)
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