Frequently asked questions

The Sedlec Ossuary — the 'Kostnice' or 'Bone Church' — is a small Roman Catholic chapel beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora about an hour east of Prague. It holds the artistically arranged bones of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people, including four great bone pyramids and a famous chandelier said to contain at least one of every bone in the human body, composed by the woodcarver František Rint in 1870. It is one of the most visited sights in the Czech Republic.

In practice, yes. The ossuary is a small underground chapel with a capacity-limited, timed-entry system: admission is released in half-hourly windows and dated tickets sell out days ahead in summer and around Halloween. Turning up without a booking often means a long wait or no entry for the time you want. Booking ahead secures a confirmed date and entry time.

Tickets are for a specific date and a specific half-hourly entry window. You arrive within your window and are admitted with your group; inside, most visitors spend around 30–45 minutes. Your ticket shows the exact time, and we send plain-English joining notes so you know where to go and when to be there.

The ossuary ticket covers the Sedlec Ossuary itself together with the adjoining Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady at Sedlec. The combined Kutná Hora ticket adds the Cathedral of St Barbara, the great Gothic church crowning the old town about 3 km away. If you plan to see the old town as well, the combined ticket is the natural choice; if you only want the bone chapel and the cathedral beside it, the ossuary ticket is enough.

It is the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and St John the Baptist, a remarkable Baroque-Gothic church next to the ossuary, redesigned by the architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel in the early eighteenth century. It is a UNESCO-listed monument in its own right and is included with your ossuary admission, so it is well worth stepping inside while you are there.

Kutná Hora's historic centre, together with the Cathedral of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. The ossuary sits beside the Sedlec cathedral within this celebrated heritage landscape, which is part of what draws visitors from around the world.

The simplest way is the train from Prague's main station (Praha hlavní nádraží) to Kutná Hora, about an hour on direct services. Kutná Hora's main station in Sedlec is a short walk from the ossuary. To continue to St Barbara's Cathedral and the old town, a local shuttle train and buses cover the roughly 3 km. We send clear directions with your confirmation.

No, and this catches many visitors out. The ossuary is in Sedlec, a suburb northeast of the historic old town, next to Kutná Hora's main railway station. The famous Gothic St Barbara's Cathedral and the medieval streets are about 3 km away. If you are doing both, plan the short hop between them — our joining notes explain how.

Around 30–45 minutes inside the ossuary and the cathedral next door. If you add St Barbara's and the old town on the combined ticket, Kutná Hora fills a relaxed day trip from Prague, with time for lunch and a wander through the historic streets.

The operator offers reduced rates for eligible visitors such as students, young people and seniors, and a lower child rate, with very young children admitted free. Choose the tier that matches each member of your party at checkout; you may be asked to show photo ID or a student card on the day. If you are unsure which rate applies, tell us and we'll confirm before we book.

Photography for personal use is generally allowed, but the operator may charge a small photo-permit fee, and tripods, flash and commercial shoots are restricted. It is also a consecrated place holding human remains, so visitors are asked to photograph discreetly and respectfully. We'll confirm the current photography conditions with your booking.

Many families visit, and older children often find it fascinating, but it is a genuine ossuary filled with human bones and some younger or more sensitive children may find it unsettling. You know your own children best. It is quiet and dimly lit, and everyone is asked to behave respectfully as they would in a church.

Access is limited — the chapel is a historic underground space reached by steps, and it can be tight inside. If anyone in your party has mobility needs, tell us before booking and we'll confirm the current arrangements and any alternatives so you can decide with full information.

The chapel looks the same in any season, so timing is mostly about crowds. Summer, weekends and the period around Halloween are busiest and sell out earliest; spring and autumn weekdays are quieter. Whatever the date, book your timed slot first and build the rest of your Kutná Hora day around it. Early or late entry windows tend to be calmest.

Once you confirm and pay, we purchase the official dated timed-entry ticket from the operator's authorised channel on your behalf and email it to you, along with plain-English joining notes: which train to take from Prague, where the ossuary is in Sedlec, and how to reach St Barbara's if you have the combined ticket. You show your ticket at the entrance.

Neither — we're an independent booking-assistance service for international visitors. We are not the ossuary, the Cemetery Church of All Saints or its operating parish, and we are not an official partner; we help you book and buy the official ticket in your own language, with our service fee included in the price. If you'd rather buy directly, the operator's official reservation site is sedlec.info.

Timed-entry tickets are dated and time-specific, and all sales are final once booked. If the operator cancels your entry — for operational or other reasons on their side — we refund you in full. We recommend travel insurance to cover changes to your own plans.

Yes — that is exactly what the combined Kutná Hora ticket is for. We set your ossuary entry time and give you a sensible route to St Barbara's Cathedral and the old town afterwards, so you see all three monuments comfortably in a single day trip from Prague.