Relics and Reliquaries

Igreja de Vera Cruz de Marmelar in Distrito de Évora, Portugal
Distrito de Évora, Portugal

Igreja de Vera Cruz de Marmelar

A chunk of the 'true cross' is held in this small Portuguese church where modern day exorcisms are said to be common place

Relics of the true cross are a strange thing, and carry with them a Christian legend most Christians have never heard of. Known as the "Golden Legend," it begins as Adam - as in Adam and Eve - lays dieing... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by Anonymous

Buenos Aires Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires Recoleta Cemetery

Buenos Aires most upscale cemetery

Recoleta Cemetery, in the upscale Recoleta Barrio of Buenos Aires, is the final resting place of many of Argentina's wealthiest and most famous families and personages... »

Museums and Collections | Submitted by Anonymous

The incorruptible body of St. Zita of Lucca - The Incorruptible St. Zita in Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy

The Incorruptible St. Zita

The naturally mummified body of a peasant girl saint

The patron Saint of Lucca, of servants, and of lost keys lies in rest in the church of San Frediano, dressed and in full view, some 700-plus years after her death in 1272. Zita is one of the Incorruptibles, bodies of Catholic saints that were foun... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by Annetta

Said to be Mozart's Skull - Mozart's Skull: University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg, Austria

Mozart's Skull: University Mozarteum

Mozart's skull may be held in this collection, but definitive proof continues to elude scientists

The thing about skulls is that, it can be remarkably hard prove whose they were. Of course, one can tell things like gender, age, sometimes history of disease or injury from a skull, therefore making a mismatch easy to identify... »

Memento Mori | Submitted by Anonymous

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in San Jose, California
San Jose, California

Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies

A lock of Beethoven's hair and the remains of his skull are recent additons to this Center of Beethoven studies

Keepsakes of loved one and the dead have long been a part of human culture... »

Museums and Collections | Submitted by michelle

The sword in the stone. - The Sword in the Stone at Montesiepi Chapel in Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany, Italy

The Sword in the Stone at Montesiepi Chapel

The real sword in the stone is found not in England, but in an Italian chapel

The legendary sword in the stone, often linked to king Arthur’s legend, does exist. Not in Avalon, of course, but in Italy... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by giorgiobranca

Edisons Last Breath at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan, US
Michigan, US

Edisons Last Breath at the Henry Ford Museum

Housed in the Henry Ford museum is a test tube said to hold "Edison's Last Breath"

Even great industrialists have heroes... »

Memento Mori | Submitted by Dylan

Relics in the Basilica of San Dominico in Bologna, Italy
Bologna, Italy

Relics in the Basilica of San Dominico

A diverse collection of wax, bone, papier-maché and mummified relics

This celebrated baroque Basilica is quite large, and as one wanders the echoing church they will find a number of relics sprinkled throughout. The relic of St... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by Anonymous

Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory in Rome, Italy
Rome, Italy

Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

A collection of objects supposedly singed by the hands of souls in purgatory

Located in the back of the Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio on the banks of the Tiber, the tiny century-old Piccolo Museo Del Purgatorio, or "Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory," holds a collection of bibles, prayer books, tableto... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by Josh

Church of St. Ursula in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Church of St. Ursula

Church filled the bones of hundreds of virgins martyrs, or so they say

The short version of the story goes a little something like this: Saint Ursula was a Roman-British Princess who, in the 300s, decided she would go on a pan-European pilgrimage... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Submitted by michelle