This week’s photo challenge topic from the Daily Post is Culture.
A few years ago, while traveling from Vienna to Salzburg, my wife and I stumbled upon a beautiful and ancient town in the lake district called Hallstatt.
Dating back more than 7000 years, Hallstatt became know for it’s salt mine and salt production.
But, what we found most interesting was the Hallstatt catacomb. Dating back to the 12th century, the “Bone House” contains more than 1200 bones that are painted with flowers and words. Supposedly, Austrians view graves as just a rented space, and after fifteen years of burrial the bodies are exhumed so the bones can be laid to rest in the bone house. We were also amazed at how colourful the graves were.
Some photo credit must go to my wife, because I can’t remember which photos were taken by me, and which were taken by her.
theweeklyminute.wordpress.com 
What an interesting place to stumble upon!! Lovely collection of photos!
Thank you, and thanks for visiting my blog.
My husband and I are hoping to go there this summer during our time off. It looks absolutely gorgeous.
Never heard of this place before – fascinating.
It really is quite a beautiful and quaint part of the world.
Hello Shane! This is a very interesting cultural practice about death. It made me remember the Day of the Dead in Mexico, where it is usually make sugar skulls with colorful decorations also made of sugar, and the names of people who are dead in the forehead of the skull. The people puts this candies in altars made for the relatives that are dead or you can only buy the skulls to eat them. I learned last year to make sugar skulls. Great photos. By the way, thanks for following my blog “Exploring the world: photography, travel, art”. Kind greetings,
Marianne
Those skulls are fascinating! And the little gardens are beautiful.
They really are, and they’re so amazing to see in person. Thanks for stopping by.