If you ever find yourself in Waldsassen, Germany, make sure to stop by the basilica because this place is your macabre dream come true. The church contains ten reliquaries of richly dressed and bejeweled skeletons of Christian martyrs, the largest intact collection in all of Europe. Known as the “Holy Bodies,” the skeletons were removed from the catacombs of Rome between 1688 and 1765 and ornamented by Adalbart Eder, a Cistercian lay brother and skilled goldsmith, sometime in the 18th century. The displays include both Saint Valentinus, who is decorated with a biretta and an elaborate deacon’s cassock to show off his ecclesiastical status, and Saint Gratian, a soldier who is decked out in Roman military attire. Not your everyday relics, that’s for sure.
Basilica “Holy Bodies”, Waldsassen, Germany
