Capela dos Ossos: Portugal's Chapel of Bones

Above the white-painted brick entrance to Capela dos Ossos, is a sign that reads, “Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos.” Roughly, We bones, are here, waiting for you.” Capela dos Ossos is Portugal’s Chapel of Bones.

In 16^th century, the small city of Évora, Portugal was seemingly overwrought with cemeteries. In a period of growth, these cemeteries were taking up vast amounts of potentially valuable land. The area’s Franciscan monks were allotted the task of interring the remains elsewhere. However, the monks had a different idea.

The city of Évora in the few centuries since it’s Reconquest from Moorish rule was thriving. Especially under the rule of Manuel I and John III in the very late 15^th century through the beginning of the 16^th century. It had become an epicenter for the arts and humanities. However, the area monks grew troubled at the cities growth and at the resident’s fixation on material possessions.

Once the monks were given the task of relocating the remains for the cities many cemeteries (some accounts estimate the city had over 40 separate cemeteries), they came up with a plan to both move the remains, but also send a message to the city they felt was becoming corrupt. This is when they built the “Chapel of Bones”.

Capela dos Ossos is an interior chapel within Évora’s Igreja de São Francisco (Church of Saint Francis) made of white-painted brick—and bones. Nearly 5,000 sets of remains adorn the chapel’s walls, floors, and ceilings. Areas not covered with bones, are bricks painted with various images reflecting death. In one area of the Chapel, the remains of a child dangle from ropes overhead.

So, what is the dark lesson that those monks aimed to teach? They aimed to teach the population about the transitory nature of material goods and the inevitability of death for everyone—wealthy or otherwise. The idea is furthered by a poem, written almost 300 years later by local parish priest, Father Antonio da Ascencao, that is hanging from one of the Chapel’s pillars. It reads:

Aonde vais, caminhante, acelerado? Pára...não prossigas mais avante; Negócio, não tens mais importante, Do que este, à tua vista apresentado. Recorda quantos desta vida têm passado, Reflecte em que terás fim semelhante, Que para meditar causa é bastante Terem todos mais nisto parado. Pondera, que influido d'essa sorte, Entre negociações do mundo tantas, Tão pouco consideras na morte; Porém, se os olhos aqui levantas, Pára...porque em negócio deste porte, Quanto mais tu parares, mais adiantas. por Padre António da Ascenção

Where are you going in such a hurry traveler? Stop … do not proceed; 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 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. by Fr. António da Ascenção (translation by Fr. Carlos A. Martins, CC)

Erected almost 500 years ago, Capela dos Ossos, continues to stand as a dark reflection on life’s inevitabilities. It helps visitors to contemplate what is most important in life and to help them look past their material possessions and to look inward.

"Capela dos Ossos Évora, Igreja de São Francisco." Visit Evora. December 26, 2017. Accessed February 20, 2018. http://www.visitevora.net/capela-ossos-evora/.