Capuchin Crypt, Brno

The Capuchin friars built their monastery in Brno in the 1650s, and the crypt beneath it turned out to have an air flow and a soil composition that dried bodies rather than letting them decay. The friars were buried in the traditional way of the order - no coffin, laid on bare earth with a brick under the head - and they mummified naturally. Around fifty of them lie in the crypt today, along with the bodies of benefactors and local notables in their own vaults, including the eighteenth-century mercenary colonel Frantisek Trenck, who died imprisoned in Spilberk. The crypt is presented soberly, with an inscription addressing the visitor about mortality, and it is a working religious site rather than a curiosity, though the arrangement is confronting. The church above has a Capuchin interior of deliberate plainness. It is one of two such crypts in the country.

What you actually see

• Naturally dried bodies - about fifty friars laid out as the order buried them.
• Benefactors in vaults - notables of the town interred alongside.
• Colonel Trenck - the mercenary who died in Spilberk prison.
• A plain Capuchin church - above the crypt, austere by rule.

When to go

All year. Two hours.

Honest expectations

These are human remains displayed openly and some visitors find it distressing - it is not a novelty. Photography is restricted. Closed during services and on some winter days. Not suitable for small children.

Nearby

Zelny trh is a minute away; Petrov is above.