San Bernardino alle Ossa

In front of you is a church that looks almost like a civic building, its front neatly divided into bands. No one would guess that inside, in a side chapel, the walls are covered with thousands of human bones arranged with almost decorative care.

1An overflowing cemetery

In the 12th century, opposite the basilica of Santo Stefano, there was a hospital and a cemetery. When the cemetery filled up, a room was built in 1210 to hold the bones. Later a small church was added, dedicated in the 15th century to Saint Bernardino of Siena. In 1642 the bell tower of Santo Stefano collapsed onto the complex, and during the rebuilding the bones were arranged in crosses, garlands and geometric patterns. In 1695 Sebastiano Ricci painted a whirl of angels and souls rising to heaven on the vault.

2What people say

A tradition recorded in the 17th century held that the bones belonged to Milanese who died fighting Arian heretics in Ambrose's time. Scholars think they came from hospital patients, prisoners and the dead of nearby cemeteries.

They say that every 2 November the skeleton of a little girl comes back to life and draws the other bones into a dance of death.

It is also said that King John V of Portugal was so impressed that he had the chapel copied in Évora. That is doubtful: the Chapel of Bones in Évora is older.

3What to look for

• The façade, with statues of Saint Bernardino and Saint Sebastian.
• The side passage leading to the ossuary.
• The bulk of Santo Stefano, whose bell tower caused the collapse of 1642.