Lanterns of the Dead

Lanterns of the Dead are small stone towers found chiefly in Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Northern Italy, and Poland where it is associated with Latin Christendom.

Pierced with small openings at the top, a light was exhibited at night to indicate the position of a cemetery, hospital, or leper colony. These lanterns were originally constructed to warn passers-by of the danger of infection, as well as to illuminate cemeteries in order to cast out the darkness where it was feared that repenting souls, ghosts, and criminals, could hide. Later, they were also erected at the intersections of important routes and roads.