The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses

In this exploration of cultural history, Paul Koudounaris shows an international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. Part history, culture and photobook-this tome shines a spotlight on some of the most culturally significant charnel sites- sites of ancestral veneration, worship and remembrance. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites- often rarely open to the public- and forgotten archive images of others long destroyed, this book is a stunning collection of images, stories and memories. We see the ossuary, collections of ancestors brought together to create new physical religious spaces. We see the Skeleton Saints- figures deified or venerated from beyond, selected via cross cultural divination practices. We see the catacombs, where the dead are adopted and venerated- worked with for various magical purposes. Most open displays of thoughts about death, the afterlife and spirit working from beyond have often been suppressed by later culturally oppressive movements, reduced to existing in the shadows or only worked with by the fringes of cultural tradition. This book brings them back into the light. These living traditions are shown again anew.

If you’re looking for a cultural and religious history of death – this is the book for you.

Why we love it

This book is a stunning look into the Ancestral Veneration traditions- it offers a rare glimpse into the cultural traditions of Europe that are so often ignored, but also looks to some of the charnel houses of elsewhere too. Because of the stunning photographs, it makes the practices tactile and easy to understand. It gives life to the dead.

The book also contains a map of the various sites so the reader can visit them themselves. This book is one of our utmost favourites for death and ancestral sites. There are of course more out there not mentioned in the book- as the book focuses on a few of the key sites in each country- but it remains a valuable beautiful guide book.

Hardcover

224 pages and very large. Some text is printed in grey- if you have eyesight issues, you may be better instead buying a digital copy of the book.

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