The Capuchin Crypt · Rooms Furnished With Bone

In the Capuchin Crypt in Rome, the decoration on the ceiling and walls is pieced together entirely from the bones of more than four thousand friars: vertebrae as lampshades, finger bones as frames, skulls strung into arches.

The order states it plainly: this is not a haunted house but a reminder — you too will end up like this. The last message is written above a nun’s remains: “Our bones await your bones.”

Photography and loud talking are not allowed in the chapel. At the end of the dim corridor only one small chapel is lit.

Occult Chronicles / Rome · Italy / 1631