Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
I am not sure why I have always liked to visit cemeteries, but there it is. And I must say that Austrian cemeteries struck me at the most beloved. Every single grave that I saw had fresh colorful flowers and most had candles going. I would not have said that there seemed to be a competition going on who kept the loveliest site, it just did not feel that way.
When I asked if the churches did all of that work, my friend Sylvia told me that no, at least in her village, it was up to the family members who were alive to do the caring. In her case, she tends to the graves of her loved ones almost every day. It helps that she lives in a small village and the church is close by, but still: ALL of the graves are well tended in every cemetery that I saw.
In a Gothic church in Hallstatt, there is a small stone room called the Beinhaus (The Bone House) in the Michaelskapelle (St Michael Chapel). It contains the bones of many that were buried in this village. In this very vertical mountainous region, space is at a premium and at some point in history these bones were moved from their graves to make room for other bodies. Then the bones were stacked neatly all together, with the skulls aligned on top for remembrance. Many skulls were painted with leaves or family crests. The names and life dates of each person were painted onto the skulls.
Although the small ossuary was filled with tourists snapping flash images, Sylvia asked me to have some respect and take no photos. Instead, she bought me a postcard that they had for sale at the entrance, where a woman charged either 3 or 6 euros per person to enter the Beinhaus. I noticed that the skulls inside in front of the cross were different from the ones on the postcard, so I became curious about how often remains were added or rearranged. It seemed to me that as small as this village may have appeared, there should be more bones than what were here.
If you would like to know more about the Beinhaus or Hallstatt (a LOVELY, lovely village and a World Heritage Site), please visit:
www.igougo.com/attractions-reviews-b336842-Hallstatt-Beinhaus_The_Bone_House.html
http://austria-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/see_hallstatt_karner_bone_house
1 comment:
I like to wander through graveyards, too! I think it is because my imagination takes me to wondering if some of these people died with some secret that would change mankind or the course that society is headed.
I agree---these burial grounds are special!
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