shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePortugal

in Évora, a short walk inside the city walls

Capela dos Ossos

Name: Capela dos Ossos — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — a room where the bones do the speaking.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A small chapel at the side of the Church of São Francisco in Évora, built in the early 17th century by Franciscan friars who needed to make space in the city's crowded graveyards. The walls and pillars are arranged from the bones of around five thousand people. An inscription above the entrance is not unkind. The light comes in low.

from the studio

— bring it home

Capela dos Ossos, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Capela dos Ossos

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

The Capela dos Ossos sits inside the Igreja de São Francisco in central Évora, in Portugal's Alentejo region, about 130 kilometres east of Lisbon. The chapel was built in the early 17th century by Franciscan friars, who exhumed bones from around 43 monastic cemeteries inside the city to free the ground for new burials. The Church of São Francisco itself dates to between 1480 and 1510, in the Manueline-Gothic style. Évora's walled historic centre was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.

— informed by UNESCO — Historic Centre of Évora, Wikipedia — Chapel of Bones

— the stone

The chapel is roughly 18.7 metres long and 11 metres wide, divided into three small naves by four arches. The walls and eight columns are faced with the carefully arranged skulls and long bones of around five thousand people, set in lime mortar. The vaulted ceiling is painted brick, not bone, with allegorical figures of death. Above the entrance an inscription reads 'Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos' — 'We bones that are here, for yours we wait.'

— informed by Wikipedia — Chapel of Bones

— the visit

The chapel is open daily, generally 09:00 to 18:00, with a shorter timetable on Sundays and feast days. A combined ticket covers the chapel, the Church of São Francisco, and a small sacred-art museum upstairs. Photography is allowed without flash. Silence is requested inside the chapel itself, which holds only a small number of people at a time. Évora is reached from Lisbon in about 90 minutes by car on the A6, or by direct CP train in about an hour and a half.

— informed by Visit Évora — Capela dos Ossos

— where

Portugal · Évora, Alentejo

— position

38.5688° N · 7.9089° W

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

1 km N

Roman Temple of Évora

Roman ruin

1 km N

Évora Cathedral

Gothic cathedral

at the lake

Praça do Giraldo

central square

Capela dos Ossos

Roman Temple of Évora

Évora Cathedral

Praça do Giraldo

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Capela dos Ossos — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

A small 17th-century chapel attached to the Church of São Francisco in Évora, Portugal. The walls and columns are lined with the bones of around five thousand people, exhumed from city cemeteries by Franciscan friars to free burial ground.

Évora's monastic cemeteries had filled by the early 17th century. Rather than discard the remains, the Franciscans built a meditative space confronting the visitor with mortality — a memento mori in the Counter-Reformation tradition.

Above the entrance, in Portuguese: 'Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos.' It translates as: 'We bones that are here, for yours we wait.' The line is attributed to the Franciscan friar who oversaw the chapel.

Around five thousand, by the chapel's own count. The visible bones are mostly skulls and long bones; smaller bones are set into the lime mortar of the walls and columns rather than displayed individually.

About 90 minutes by car on the A6 motorway, or a direct CP train from Lisbon's Oriente station to Évora in roughly an hour and a half. The chapel is a short walk from either station through the walled historic centre.

— about the piece in your home

The chapel is one of the recognised images of Alentejo and of Évora. We've sent WenderVista pieces to many customers with family in Portugal; a Small or Medium with a studio note carries the place without crowding a wall.

The piece sits well in Old-World Maximalist, Dark Academia, and Gothic-Modern interiors. The ochre and ivory palette holds against oxblood, deep green, and aged leather.

Dark Academia has held as a steady interior current rather than a fading trend. A Capela dos Ossos tile reads as literary and ecclesiastical without leaning toward Halloween imagery.

A single Large reads at sofa scale. A 4-tile Mural fills a longer wall; a 9-tile Mural carries a great room. Above a console, a Medium or a pair of Smalls works well.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and read well in humid rooms. Glossy is best kept to dry wall installations.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No abrasive cleaners and no solvents. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and the thin top finish keeps it stable for ordinary household wiping.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender and hand-finished in the Knoxville studio. We do not license images in or out.

— if this one stayed with you