Totenkapelle (Chapel of the Dead) in Austria

The Heiligenkreuz Abbey , a monastery of the Cistercian at Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna woods ( Lower Austria ). There is no interruption since its inception in 1133 and is now - after Rein -. the world's second-oldest, continuously active since the founding Cistercian monastery. Since 1713, a narrow space of three bays, covered with cross vaults, is in use as a burial chapel. The artistic design was the responsibility of Giovanni Giuliani(1663- 1744). Dancing skeletons glow (as candle holder=candelabras) the deceased confrere that is laid out in the middle of the chapel, the way to eternity.