Categories > Memento Mori > Relics and Reliquaries
Relics and Reliquaries
On the side of a remote mountain, a stone face bearing an inscription of mysterious origin
The Mystery Stone, also known as the Decalogue Stone, is located on a mountain in the remote desert of West-Central New Mexico. The stone face bears an inscription written in what some believe to... »
Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by philcrater and Dylan
A wunderkammer of gold and silver reliquaries and ancient saintly bones
The 12th-century Dubrovnik Cathedral in Croatia is home to an extraordinary reliquary museum containing more than 200 ornate gold and silver reliquaries. The cathedral’s treasury, protected from... »
Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by michelle, Dylan and others
The mummified holy right fist of a 1000 year old saint-king
It is known as “The Holy Right” and every year on August 20th, Hungary takes it out for a walk. The occasion is Saint Stephen’s Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the founder of the Hungarian... »
Relics and Reliquaries, Mummies | Edited by Dylan and re_nakaba
When the imprisoned pope's remains were finally returned to the Vatican, his heart stayed behind in France
Behind the altar at the Cathédrale Saint-Apollinaire in Valence, the heart of Pope Pius VI is encased in a marble cenotaph. Three years after Pius’ death in 1799 while exiled in the French town,... »
Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by allison and Annetta
A morbid secret lies hidden within the beautiful walls of the Boston Athenaeum
Tucked into a wooden box in the Boston Athenaeum library is a curious book. The book has "a slightly bumpy texture, like soft sandpaper" and bears the title "Hic Liber Waltonis Cute Compactus... »
Unique Collections, Memento Mori, Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Dylan, ack sed and others
A dead saint, a deadly poison, and a mysterious holy ooze
"I know I must die; someone has given me Aqua Tofana." Mozart told his wife on his deathbed in 1791. Wolfgang was referring to an infamous poison, reputedly odorless and tasteless that was widely... »
Relics and Reliquaries, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by Annetta and lib
The body of St. John Neumann and his collection of hundreds of relics, on display in a Philly church
Upon his canonization, Saint John Neumann was exhumed and placed on display for worship. First they removed some bones and cut them into small pieces to be set in very small, glass-covered... »
Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Dylan, commanderkeen and others
A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica
Set in an ornate reliquary in the Basilica San Domenico in Siena is the dismembered, mummified head of the revered Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). Her right thumb also resides in a smaller... »
Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Dylan, Henry and 3 others
