The next morning Natalia dropped me off at the Wrocław bus station on her way to work and, after finding the platform the bus would depart from, I waited the 20 minutes the bus was late and departed for a three hour journey covering about 130 km at a cost of 29 PLN – just under $10 CAD. Arriving in Kudowa-Zdrój I oriented myself, found the tourist information poster and the bus stop to return to Wrocław, bought some ice cream (“lody”), and wandered up a road through some trees towards Czermna. I found the chapel amidst a large and decorated graveyard, which contained graves less than a year old, took some pictures, then headed for the cash register.
5 PLN later I was in – unfortunately, pictures weren’t allowed (I tried and failed at negotiating to be able to take some), but the pictures from Atlas Obscurica provide an accurate portrait of what is inside. The skulls and bones are tied together and to wooden supports with thin wires, curing out on each side of the walls flanking the entrance. The wall across from and facing the entrance is covered simply with skulls, again wired to the walls. Some of the wiring seems almost haphazard, with some loops or segments not appearing to be under tension. The bones while generally in good condition had some evidence wear, perhaps from the removal of the flesh of the corpses interned in the chapel. Some skulls and bones also feature physical damage, which I wonder if it results from wars resulting in some of the remains that are on display. There is a trap door which shows the crawl space under the floor, containing more bones and skulls. Skulls and crossbones adorned the ceiling with some cob webs strung between them. The whole room, while not small, is not particularly large and would accommodate perhaps 20 people comfortably.
Compared to the Kostnice (Ossuary) in Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic that I visited last year the stacks of bones are perhaps more ornately decorated but the overall decoration is less ornate. That is, the piles of bones in Kutna Hora showed perhaps less artistic relief but the Kutna Hora chapel had distinctive creative assemblies of bones – the most memorable for me being a coat of arms and an impressive chandelier. This chapel was notably smaller than the Kutna Hora chapel while the bone collection is principally above ground while you descend a bit below ground to see the collection in Kutna Hora.
While at the chapel several groups of youths, presumably school groups came and went, although the groups themselves did not enter the chapel.
Having looked at some tourist maps and realizing how close the Czech Republic is, I decided to pop by and see if I could find some onion soup in a bread bowl – a classic Czech dish. Crossing the border is of course a huge ordeal – I hopped several times over a stout border marker taking some pictures and gazing at the border between two farmer’s houses before returning to the road and re-entering the Czech Republic on a sidewalk. A small sign announced my arrival to the Czech Republic. I saw a small patio meters from the border and approached with the hopes of acquiring soup. 3 PLN ($1 CAD) later I had acquired a Kozel beer – the cloven hoofed creature on their label captured my attention in a Czech grocery store last year at a price of around 7 Kc (just under $0.50 CAD) and the contents were thoroughly enjoyed in Berlin. This one was a different variety of the Kozel brand than I tried last year – coming with a brown rather than a green label. Returning to Poland I saw a bike make a run for border; he pedaled his way right into Poland at about 8 km/h!
