Whited Sepulchre

“‘In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulcher.’” (Conrad 11).

The term “whited sepulchre” is from the Bible, where Jesus says “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.” (http://bible.cc/matthew/23-27.htm)

It has come to mean anything deceptive, something seeming to be wonderful when it is actually treacherous. The city Conrad is describing in this passage is Brussels, in yet another allusion to Europe being evil.