San Bernardino alle Ossa turns a practical burial solution into a quiet, richly decorated chapel. Bones were gathered here after a nearby cemetery ran out of room, and the walls now make visible a history of care for the dead in crowded medieval Milan.
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The bones on these walls began as a practical response to a shortage of burial space. In 1145, this area served as a cemetery for people who died at the nearby hospital.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The cemetery served the nearby hospital from at least 1145.
- An ossuary chamber was built in 1210 after burial space proved insufficient.
- The current ossuary was rebuilt after damage in 1642 and completed in 1695.
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