Brno will ask the European Union for funding to make the ossuary accessible

Brno - The city council of Brno will request funding from the European Union within a few weeks to make the unique ossuary beneath Jakubské náměstí and St. James Church in the city center accessible. The councilors hope to secure the largest possible portion of the anticipated costs, which amount to 37.5 million crowns, from Brussels' funds. Pavel Žára, spokesperson for the magistracy, said this today.
The Brno ossuary, discovered only in 2001, is one of the largest underground burial sites in Europe. Žára believes it could become a tourist attraction. The city council has been negotiating for several years with the St. James parish about the completion of the renovations and accessibility, which initially sought to obtain funds from so-called Norwegian funds. Now both parties have reached an agreement, allowing the magistracy to sponsor and organize the repairs.
The ossuary has been partially renovated for several years now. The section under Rašínova Street and Jakubské náměstí has been repaired. A larger, more extensive part of the ossuary is located beneath the church. The problem is the entrance to the underground. Currently, people must lower themselves into the catacombs through an opening resembling a manhole. This is why the ossuary is not accessible to the public. After the repairs, people will be able to enter much more comfortably.
According to expert on Brno's underground Aleš Svoboda, the ossuary contains tens of thousands of skeletal remains from a defunct cemetery that once surrounded the church. The cemetery was established at St. James as early as the 13th century and burials ceased only in the 18th century. At that time, people likely exhumed the skeletons and transferred them to the ossuary. Additional remains may have been brought there in the early modern period from other abandoned burial sites.
The discovery of the ossuary in 2001 was a coincidence. During surface modifications of the square, workers stumbled upon an arch and a wall behind which lay spaces filled to the ceiling with old bones. Even now, when the corridors and halls are well-lit, sensitive individuals feel uneasy upon visiting the underground. Based on many bones, such as fractured skulls, even laypeople can infer the cause of death of the ancient inhabitants of the city. Experts, however, can determine the victims of plague outbreaks by looking at the discoloration of the bones.
During the repairs of the corridors beneath the street, archaeologists found another corridor that led under the church to three forgotten large halls, which are also full of bones. According to the city council of Brno, the St. James ossuary is the second largest in Europe.