Sunday, November 2, 2014

Faro - Portugal

I thought that the Bones Chapel in Évora was the only chapel of this kind in Portugal but because of this card sent by Ninocas, now I know there's another one inside this church in Faro. 

© al-garbdistri
The twin-belfried, Baroque Igreja do Carmo in Faro in the Algarve is one of the town's attractive churches with lovely 18th century gilded wood carvings and stain-glass windows inside and with a pleasant white-washed exterior with storks nesting in the towers and a large decorated pavement outside.
The Igreja do Carmo originally dates from 1719 with the money for its construction financed with Brazilian gold from Portugal's colony in South America.
However, the main attraction of the church for many visitors is its macabre Capela dos Ossos, situated in a sacristy and a walled small garden, just behind the main church building.
The bones and skulls that can be seen are those of over 1200 Carmelite monks that were exumed from the nearby church cemetery when the ossuary was built in 1816. The purpose of such Chapels of Bones is to emphasize the brevity of human existence and the need to live a good life to avoid the eternity of hell. A more practical purpose may have been to free up space in the cemeteries!
 An inscription over the entrance reads: "Stop here and consider the fate that will befall you." - in: http://www.portugalvisitor.com/portugal-city-guides/portugal-attractions/igreja-do-carmo

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