Going to Saint Michael’s Chapel in Hallstatt

I was back in village of Hallstatt after a morning of touring the Salzwelten Hallstatt which is the salt mine which made the village. I was pretty much free the rest of the day since I think I have been to most of the important sites in the village. All except one. I was actually there that morning before going to the salt mine, however, it wasn’t open. There were a sign that said it will be open in the afternoon. I went back to the Catholic Church of Hallstatt where I was exploring that morning and I wasn’t sure if the place was open. There is a chapel beside in the cemetery area and there is a door which wasn’t open that morning. I thought it was still closed but moving closer, I saw that there was a man sitting by the entrance.

The man obviously knew why I was there and just told me that entrance is two euros. There is a handout which describes what the chapel is all about. The Saint Michael’s Chapel is one of the more unique places to visit here in the village and I have only been to one other place like this in Europe. Saint Michael’s Chapel is a charnel house or a house of the dead. Ossuary would be another term for this chapel. And ossuary is a building, in this case a chapel, which houses skeletal remains. It is no coincidence that this ossuary is also located within a cemetery. Consider the location of the village of Hallstatt and the number of years that the village has been in existence. The village should already have a lot of dead of the years however, the cemetery here in the chapel grounds would scarcely be able to handle a hundred bodies. The solution was to just use their skulls.

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