A reliquary is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a fereter, and a chapel in which it is housed a feretory or feretery.
Reliquary Shrine, French, c. 1325–50, The Cloisters, New York
Inside the shrine of St. Boniface of Dokkum in the hermit-church of Warfhuizen in the Netherlands. The little folded paper on the left contains a bone fragment of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the folded paper on the right a piece of the habit of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The large bone in the middle (about 5 cm in length) is the actual relic of St. Boniface.
Reliquary Cross, French, c. 1180
Domnach Airgid, Irish, 8th–9th century, added to 14th century, 15th century, and after
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, shamanism, and many other religions. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains", and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to "leave behind, or abandon". A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics.
The reliquary and skull of Saint Ivo of Kermartin (St. Yves or St. Ives) (1253–1303), in Tréguier, Brittany, France
Shrine of Saint Lachtin's Arm, 12th century, Irish
An amphora depicting a Greek hero cult in honor of Oedipus (Apulian red-figure, 380–370 BC)
Buddha relics from Kanishka's stupa in Peshawar, Pakistan, now in Mandalay, Myanmar (2005)
