If you hear children shrieking in the background while visiting this chapel, it’s because right outside its windows lies a daycare or elementary school. Imagine going to school right next to a bone chapel. This juxtaposition of youthful innocence and macabre contemplation sets the tone for the bizarre stop in Faro, located in southern Portugal.
A Late Evolution in Bone Chapel Design
Built in the early 19th century, the Agresa do Carmo represents one of the last bone chapels ever constructed. Its design marks a departure from earlier bone chapels. This one is impeccably neat, clean, and distinctly neoclassical in style, reflecting the architectural evolution of the period.
Paul Koudounaris, a noted expert on ossuaries, describes it as:
«Among the strangest of all bone chapels, since the classicizing impulse is so strong here that the structure seems to lose expressive effect. Rigorous order seems as much a theme as mortality, and death winds up feeling somehow less oppressive than it normally does.»
The Bones and Their Purpose
The chapel houses 1,245 skulls sourced from the cemetery on its grounds, arranged with an obsessive attention to symmetry. The design is steeped in biblical numerology, with the number three and its multiples appearing repeatedly—a possible nod to the Carmelite crest, which features three stars.
However, not all the bones remain intact. While skulls above the reach of visitors are well-preserved, those at eye level have suffered damage, likely from tourists brushing against them with backpacks or carelessly handling the displays.
Are Charnels Disrespectful?
The question of whether bone chapels constitute a desecration of the dead often arises. Are these macabre fantasies of monks with too much time on their hands, or is there a deeper respect involved?
Many of the bones in these chapels belonged to Catholics who wanted to be buried near the church. They were aware that, after a certain period, their remains might be exhumed and placed in an ossuary, where they would continue to be prayed for and meditated upon.
There’s little evidence to support conspiracy theories about Catholics stealing bones from Muslims or Protestants to build these chapels. Instead, these charnels served as places of reverence, honoring the dead and maintaining a spiritual connection to God. While modern tourists stealing teeth or causing damage may seem disrespectful, the original purpose was anything but.