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The ossuary of Wamba

Wamba, Montes Torozos, Valladolid

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The ossuary of Wamba

Curiosity · Wamba, Montes Torozos, Valladolid

In a vaulted chamber attached to the cloister of the church of Santa María de Wamba, thousands of bones and skulls are piled up to the ceiling, deposited between the 13th and 18th centuries, when the town was the seat of the hospitaller commandery of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. It is thought to hold between 1,000 and 3,000 identifiable individuals, after a partial clearing carried out in the mid-20th century, making it one of the largest visitable ossuaries in Spain. Above the bones can be read the epitaph, noted down by visitors since the 19th century: As you see yourself, I once saw myself. As you see me, you will see yourself. It all ends here. Think on it and you shall not sin.

Photo: Nicolás Pérez (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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