Well - its close to Halloween so I thought I'd try to be a bit creepy too....

The Capuchin Monastery in Brno features a crypt that is well worth a visit. The Capuchin crypt was built by the Brno builder Ondrej Erna, along with the church and monastery, between 1648 and 1651. It lies to the east of the square known as the Cabbage Market. The crypt houses quite a few mummified bodies of monks and ex-Brno residents laid out in full view. On the walls of one area filled with mummified bodies lined up on the floor with heads resting on brick pillows are painted (in Czech) the words "As you are now, we once were, as we are now, you shall become."

Location Map

apparently, the composition of the subsoil and the dry air in the vault made it possible to mummify corpses naturally and the monks didn't set out to preserve their dead. It was simply a cheap way to dispose of the bodies and, following their vows of poverty, the monks chose to recycle the same coffin. After a service in the church, the body would be carried down to the crypt. There, the coffin's false bottom was slid away and the corpse was left to rest on the ground, gradually drying out over the years and naturally mummifying.

It seems that this burial practice went on for nearly 300 years until, at the end of the 18th century, Emperor Joseph's new hygiene laws demanded a more final disposal method!

Well worth a visit that crypt - but before lunch I reckon.....