Ossuaries and Historical Remains

Photographs of human skulls and bones from various ossuaries, highlighting unique burial practices and cultural significance in Italy and Portugal.

The Cheoung Ek Genocidal Center, the Killing Fields, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Assets in this Story

fontanel cemetery,Naples cimitero delle Fontanelle, Fontanel cemetery, in Naples, Italy Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 11131505

Capela dos Ossos or Chapel of Bones - is one of the best known monuments in Evora, Portugal. It is a small interior necropolis chapel located next to the entrance of the Church of St. Francis. The Chapel gets its name because the interior walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones.

Skull and bones in ancient ossuary, Naples

fontanel cemetery,Naples cimitero delle Fontanelle, Fontanel cemetery, in Naples, Italy Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 11066325

Italy, Umbria, Ferentillo, skeletons in the cemetery of the church

The Cheoung Ek Genocidal Center, the Killing Fields, near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Close-up of a death's head exposed in the spectacular cave tomb of Lombok Parinding which has housed the dead of Tana Toraja since 700 years

Skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 8477873

Fontanelle underground cemetery, UNESCO; World Heritage Site, Naples, Campania, Italy, Europe

The Chapel of Bones, Capela dos Ossos, city of Evora, Alto Alentejo, Portugal, southern Europe, Europe

Skulls inside memorial stupa at Killing fields, Choeung Ek, Cambodia

catacombs of Paris. Burial of millions of people in underground labyrinths.

Skulls on display at Sedlec Ossuary (AKA Bone Church), UNESCO, Kutna Hora, Kutna Hora District, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

The Skull Chapel in Czermna, Kudowa Zdroj, Poland.

Middle ages skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 7180140

Skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples

Skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 10324059

Skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 7345750

Die Knochenkapelle Capela dos Ossos in Evora, Portugal Die Knochenkapelle Capela dos Ossos in Evora, Portugal Copyright: xZoonar.com/HaraldxBiebelx 21825045

An ancient burial ground in Greenland

Cambodia, Phnom Penh. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, Memorial Stupa filled with over 800 skulls of Khmer Rouge victims.

Human Bones at the Capela dos Ossos at the St Francis Church or igreja de Sao Francisco in the old Town of the city Evora in Alentejo in Portugal. Portugal, Evora, October, 2021

Mexico, Chiapas, Metzabok, Selva Lacandona. Lacandon Mayan Indian in sacred cave shrine, where craniums of Pre-Hispanic Maya remain

Skulls in the Charnel House, Chapel of St. Michael Church, Hallstatt, Salzkammergut, Austria

Human skulls lining the walls of the ancient Catacombs in Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Fontanel cemetery in Naples, Italy Fontanel cemetery, in Naples,is known for a ritual, known as the rite of pezzentelle souls, which provided for the adoption and accommodation in exchange for protection of a skull Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 8905996

Chullpa Sepulchre, Funeray tower, Señoríos de los Lipes culture (1200-1450), the bodies were deposited in crevices of the volcanic tufa, Necopolis, San Juan del Rosario, Bolivia

San Francisco baroque church and monastery, human skulls in the Catacombs, Lima, Peru

fontanel cemetery,Naples cimitero delle Fontanelle, Fontanel cemetery, in Naples, Italy Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 11066310

The Bone Chapel in Campo Major in the Alentejo. Portugal

Skulls on a wooden coffin, Kete Kesu, Toraja Land, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Portugal, Alentejo, Evora, Historic centre of Evora, detail of wall of Chapel of Bones (Capela dos Ossos) covered with human bones and skulls

The Remains Of Empress Mintwab; Gondar, Ethiopia

Paris, France, Ile-de-France, bones and skulls in the Catacombs, the mass underground graveyard of Paris in Montparnasse

Skulls in the Skull Tower, Nis, Serbia.

Fontanel cemetery in Naples, Italy cimitero delle Fontanelle, Fontanel cemetery, in Naples, Italy Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 7237914

Human skulls, St. Catherine's Monastery, located at the foot of Mount Moses in the Sinai of Egypt. (Editorial Usage Only)

Skull and bones Skull and bones in ancient ossuary, Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 14284705

Austria, Salzkammergut, Hallstatt, Chapel of St.Michael Church, Skulls in the Charnel House

Brünner Beinhaus Brünner Beinhaus

Old headstones in the church. Lunna Kirk in Lunnasting, the oldest church in use in the Shetland islands. Europe, Great Britain, Scotland.

Chapel of Bones, Close-up view of the embedded bones on the wall, Evora, Alentejo, Portugal, Europe

Choeung Ek or the Killing Fields, one of the most sorrowful places in Cambodia, approximately 8000 skulls of victims stored in a mausoleum behind glass, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, Asia

Asia, Cambodia, 40 ft. high memorial stupa containing 8000 human skulls of genocide victims at Choeng Ek

Skull and bones Skull and bones in ancient ossuary, Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 12182531

Evora, Portugal. Capela dos Ossos, Chapel of Bones. 17th Century gothic church. Interior is decorated with over 5000 bones.

Human Bones at the Capela dos Ossos at the St Francis Church or igreja de Sao Francisco in the old Town of the city Evora in Alentejo in Portugal. Portugal, Evora, October, 2021

Skull, Hood, Portrait, Catacombe dei Cappuccini, Capuchin Monastery, Capuchin Crypt, Mummies, Palermo, Capital, Sicily, Italy, Europe

More than 100 years old statue. Cemetery located in North Italy

Fontanel cemetery in Naples, Italy the cemetery is known for a particular ritual, known as the rite of pezzentelle souls, which provided for the adoption and accommodation in exchange for protection of a skull Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 9350564

Chapel in Saint Ignatius of Laconi's native home, Laconi, Sardinia, Italy. Skull.

Interior of the Seddlec Ossuary, decorated with approximately 40,000-70,000 human skeletons which have been artistically arrange

Killing Fields memorial with skulls of those killed in raids at Phnom Phen, Cambodia

Skeletons of Capuchin monks, Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuccini, Rome, Italy

Skulls in burial cave

Capela dos Ossos, Chapel of Bones, built in the 16th century, Convent of San Francisco, Gothic-Manueline, 15th century, Evora, Alentejo, Portugal, Europe.

Ossuary at St. Catherine's Church, Oppenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe

A Creepy Wall of Human Skulls in Portugal’s Chapel of Bones in Evora

Bodies on display at the Murambi Genocide Memorial near Gikongoro in southern Rwanda.

A vistor looking at a mound of skulls, Cambodia.

Rubber skull on a snag

Human khopdi skulls Copyright: xMukeshxParpiani/DinodiaxPhotox

Skulls in burial cave, Sagada, Luzon Island, Philippines

Fontanelle cemetery, a charnel house where thousands of anonymous corpses are kept; Naples, Italy

Cementery of the House of the Holy Spirit. Skeletons. Medieval Museum. Stockholm. Sweden.

Mummified Remains In The Cave At The Yemrehanna Kristos Church, Near Lalibela; Ethiopia

Skull, Purgatorio church, Naples, Campania, Italy

a old prehistorical grave in the village of Ban Prasat near the city of Khorat in the Province of Nakhon Ratchasima in the Region of Isan in Northeast Thailand in Thailand.

Tana toraja, Sulawesi fetishes and skeletons protectors, out of the homes, Sulawesi Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 7345714

Skulls Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 7585987

Tomb open on the King William Island Canadian Arctic

A grisly image of death grimacing with a skull and crossbones on a headstone in Kylemore Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Mummy, wreath on head, image of Jesus, Catacombe dei Cappuccini, Capuchin monastery, Capuchin crypt, mummies, Palermo, capital, Sicily, Italy, Europe

Skulls in the ossuary, Karner St. Michaelskapelle St. Michael Cchapel, Hallstatt, Salzkammergut region, Upper Austria, Austria, Europe

CRIMEA, UKRAINE -AUGUST 21, 2019: many skulls are human laid out in rows on the shelf and icon

Skulls and bones Skulls in Fontanel cemetery, Sanità quarter Naples Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 8754556

Chullpa Sepulchre, Funeray tower, Señoríos de los Lipes culture (1200-1450), the bodies were deposited in crevices of the volcanic tufa, Necopolis, San Juan del Rosario, Bolivia

Early Egyptian burial known as 'Ginger'. Artist: Unknown

Human Bones in the Cathedral Ossuary, Potosi, Tomas Frias Province, Bolivia, South America

The Chapel of Bones (Capela dos Ossos) is one of the best known monuments in Evora, Portugal

South America, Peru, A Nazca mummy surrounded by pottery, bone and cloth fragments in the Cemetery of Chauchilla in Peru.

Skull of a sacrificial victim from a headhunter shown in a longhouse of the Iban tribe in the Sarawak Cultural Village on Borneo

Copan, Honduras, Maya

Vilnius. Cathedral interior of the royal crypt; Bułhak, Jan (1876-1950); 1931 (1931-00-00-1931-00-00);

Woven Skeletons For Day Of The Dead Festivities At Xcaret Near Playa Del Carmen. Mexico

Terracotta figures at the Han Dynasty Tomb of Han Yang Ling, Xian, China

HERCULANEUM, ITALY, MAY 05, 2022, Herculanean inhabitants vainly searched for shelter at the city docks during the eruption of Vesuvius, Italy, Europe

Chauchilla necropolis, Peru Bones in open inca cemetery in Nazca region , Peru Copyright: xZoonar.com/MassimoxLamax 11537389

France. Ile De France. Paris. Notre Dame Cathedral. The Crown of Light Or Great Chandelier

Marian altar by Henrik Douvermann, predella with root of Jesse and figures, St., Sankt, Saint

Skulls on the ballustrades in the monks' cemetery, Great Cloister of the Certosa di San Martino on Vomero above Naples, Campania, Italy, Europe

Ancient Egypt. Mummy of woman from Thebes. 1070-945 BC. Vatican Museums. Vatican City State.

Peru, Nazca, Chauchilla cemetery

South America, Latin America, Imbabura Province, Ecuador, Otavalo, Cotacachi, Imbabura, skeleton, corpse, death

Mexico, Chiapas, Metzabok, Selva Lacandona. Lacandon Mayan Indian in sacred cave shrine, where the craniums of Pre-Hispanic Maya remain

Capela dos Ossos, Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo), Faro, Algarve, Portugal

Choeung Ek, Killing Fields, pagoda for the 17000 victims of the Pol Pot regime, children looking at the skulls, Choeung Ek, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh Province, Cambodia, Asia