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Ossuary

A corner of the courtyard of Saint-Maclou Aître. The timber-framed gallery features funereal wooden carvings while stone pillars are carved with the characters of the danse macabre.

Saint-Maclou Aître, the ossuary that swallowed an entire French parish

Posted on 19 February 202415 August 2024 by The Gothic Dispatch

The Black Death arrived in Rouen by boat and, in no time at all, wiped out three quarters of the population. I arrived by rail and, to the best of my knowledge, went comparatively unnoticed.

Greetings from Saint-Maclou Aître, location of the remains of Rouen’s plague ossuary and, indeed, many of its residents. Discover the funereal decorations builders carved into the beams of the medieval courtyard. Join the dance of death before its characters are worn to dust. And learn the fate of all those homes left empty when the Black Death disembarked.

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Welcome to the Gothic Dispatch, the strangest blog in this world or the next.

Join me as I pursue the particulars of Gothic art, literature and travel. Expect extraordinary sights, unusual recommendations and plenty of narrow escapes. And experience the restlessness, excess and otherness of the Gothic without the toll on your immortal soul.

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