Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Crypt)

Beneath this otherwise modest Capuchin church lies one of the most extraordinary and disquieting sights in Rome: six small chapels decorated with the bones of around 3,700 Capuchin friars who died between 1500-1870, arranged into chandeliers, wall mouldings, ceiling rosettes, and entire mounted skeletal figures. A plaque reads 'What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be.' Disturbing, beautiful, and a serious meditation on mortality. The upper church holds Caravaggio's Saint Francis in Meditation. Audio guide included.