Located in the grounds of Saint-Grégoire church, the Lanrivain ossuary contains an extraordinary pile of skulls and bones on the ground. In the past, it was mainly the lower limbs (tibias, in particular) that were arranged in the right order on the floor. Today, the remaining piles are more of a jumble.
October 20, 2025
Slovenia
Thousands of medieval skeletons lie just beneath Kranj’s main square.
Saint-Pol-de-Léon, France
Each of these hand-painted wooden boxes, which date to between the 16th and 19th centuries, contains a genuine human skull.
Chios, Greece
This 11th-century Greek monastery has renowned mosaics and relics of a brutal past.
Naters, Switzerland
This ossuary is more than five centuries old and is heralded as one of the finest in Switzerland.
Madrid, Spain
Remains of the lost church hide beneath this Spanish Parliament building.
Quito, Ecuador
This overlooked, beautiful convent hides an original Hieronymus Bosch among its many treasures.
Rothwell, England
Under a church hides a forgotten 13th-century ossuary containing the remains of around 2,500 people.
San Martino della Battaglia, Italy
The skulls and bones of thousands of soldiers line the walls of this small Italian chapel.
