Incredible Revelation: The Long-Lost King Covered in Gold - A Shocking Secret Hidden for Centuries!

They were called Catacoḥas Saiḥts, corpses of ancient Romans unearthed from the catacombs of Rome, dummy bodies handed over and found outside as relics of the Saiḥts of the 16th to 8th centuries. 19. They are lavishly decorated, as you can see below.

But why? Why are they so lavishly decorated? Are they really like this or has something happened? Well, they are not actually statues in the strict sense, although some of them may have been early Christian martyrs. During the 15th century, Western Europe was rocked by the Beeldestorm (the wrath of the statues), a term used to refer to an outbreak of religious image destruction. During these iconic times, Catholic art and popular forms of church decoration and fittings were destroyed at formal events or in crowds.

When Catholic churches were systematically stripped of their effigies, the Vatican came up with a rather strange solution. They ordered thousands of skeletons to be exhumed from the catacombs of Rome and installed in towers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance, but they were decorated as if they were satyrs.

Skeletons became a gruesome symbol of Catholicism in areas dominated by protesters. It is clear what their purpose was, but by the 19th century they had become a shameful symbol of past friction. Although they are considered imitations and are forbidden from selling skeletons or their jewellery, some “unimportant” priests still send expensive shipments across the country in exchange for some money.

In 1803, the secular magistrate of Rottepäch in Baʋaria awarded the two saints to the town. 174 years later, in 1977, the town’s residents raised their voices for their return, but for the most part, the catacomb saints were almost forgotten and abandoned.

But their time came to be in the spotlight again in 2013, when Paul Koudouparis sparked interest in them with his new work, in which he attempted to photograph and document each and every visitor to the catacombs. It is unclear whether he actually did so, but he certainly succeeded in bringing them to the public’s attention. He explains:

‘They have to be controlled by people who have sworn a sacred oath to the church; these people are supposed to be martyrs and cannot let anyone else control them. They are symbols of the faith of victory and are classified as saints in cities. One of the reasons why they are so important is not because of their spiritual value, which is quite valuable, but because of their social importance.

He added that over time, their messages have changed, moving from religious symbols to city symbols.

“They are supposed to be miracles and they really strengthen people’s relationship with a partner.” He added: “No modern capacity for value is placed on skeletons.”