Alberto de leon(Catacomb of Palermo, Sicily)vox-68 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrDSXI7zL04 . http://youtu.be/FrDSXI7zL04 .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. In 1599 Capuchin monks discovered that their catacombs contained a mysterious preservative that helped mummify the dead for a much longer of time. . .. The last corpse to be buried here was that of 2-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, who died in 1920. She is so well-preserved, she has been nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty."
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........ Rosalia Lombardo as she appeared in 1995. She died in 1920 ................................................................................................................................................
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What to See
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (also Catacombe dei Cappuccini or Catacombs of the Capuchins) are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Today they provide a somewhat macabre tourist attraction as well as an extraordinary historical record.
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Catacombs of Palermo
For visitors to Palermo who enjoy the macabre and/or bizarre, the Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Catacombs of the Capuchins) are a must-see. Like most displays of human remains, a visit to the mummies can lead to reflection on the meaning of death. But it goes without saying that this "human library" of thousands of bodies is not for the faint-hearted or weak-stomached!
History
In 1599, Capuchin monks discovered that their catacombs contained a mysterious preservative that helped mummify the dead. As a result, more than 8,000 Sicilians from all walks of life chose to be buried here.
The corpses range in date from the late 1500s to 1920 and most were embalmed before their display. Giuseppe Tommasi, prince of Lampedusa and author of the famous Sicilian work The Leopard, was buried in the cemetery next to the catacombs in 1957.
In the 1940s, Allied bombs hit the monastery, destroying many of the mummies. The Capuchin Monastery (Convento dei Cappuccini) itself was rebuilt over the remains of the original medieval church in 1623 and was once again restored in the early 20th century.
Visitors can wander through the catacombs' dank corridors among the mummified bodies. The halls are divided into categories that include: Men, Women, Virgins, Children, Priests, Monks, and Professors (including the famous painter Velasquez).
The corpses are dressed in splendid clothes, now somewhat decayed, and occupy their own individual niches according to their social status. Many of the deceased wrote wills that specified the clothes in which to bury them, and some even asked to have their clothes changed over a period of time.
Many corpses are still remarkably preserved and some give the impression of enjoying a joke with their deceased friends. Others are not in such good shape, with horribly contorted, creepy faces and missing parts like jaws and hands.
The last corpse to be buried here was that of 2-year-old Rosalia Lombaro, who died in 1920. She is so well-preserved, she has been nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty."
Palermo's Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century and monks began to excavate crypts below it. In 1599 they mummified one of their number, recently-dead brother Silvestro of Gubbio, and placed him into the catacombs.
The bodies were dehydrated on the racks of ceramic pipes in the catacombs and sometimes later washed with vinegar. Some of the bodies were embalmed and others enclosed in sealed glass cabinets. Monks were preserved with their everyday clothing and sometimes with ropes they had worn as a penance.
Originally the catacombs were intended only for the dead friars. However, in the following centuries it became a status symbol to be entombed into the Capuchin catacombs. In their wills, local luminaries would ask to be preserved in certain clothes, or even to have their clothes changed at regular intervals. Priests wore their clerical vestments, others were clothed according to the contemporary fashion. Relatives would visit to pray for the deceased and also to maintain the body in presentable condition.
The catacombs were maintained through the donations of the relatives of the deceased. Each new body was placed in a temporary niche and later placed into a more permanent place. As long as the contributions continued, the body remained in its proper place but when the relatives did not send money any more, the body was put aside on a shelf until they resumed payment ....................................................................................................................................................................................
Rosalia Lombardo as she appeared in 1995. She died in 1920 .....................................................................................................................................................................
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[edit]Interments
The last friar interred into the catacombs was Brother Riccardo in 1871 but other famous people were still interred. The catacombs were officially closed in 1880 but tourists continued to visit. The last burials are from the 1920s. One of the very last to be interred was Rosalia Lombardo, then two years old, whose body is still remarkably intact, preserved with a procedure that was lost for decades, but was recently rediscovered. The embalming procedure, performed by Professor Alfredo Salafia, consisted of formalin to kill bacteria, alcohol to dry the body, glycerin to keep her from overdrying, salicylic acid to kill fungi, and the most important ingredient, zinc salts (zinc sulfate and zinc chloride) to give the body rigidity.[1][2] The formula is 1 part glycerin, 1 part formalin saturated with both zinc sulfate and chloride, and 1 part of an alcohol solution saturated with salicylic acid.
The catacombs contain about 8000 mummies that line the walls. The halls are divided into categories: Men, Women, Virgins, Children, Priests, Monks, and Professionals. Some bodies are better preserved than others. Some are set in poses; for example, two children are sitting together in a rocking chair. The coffins were accessible to the families of the deceased so that on certain days the family could hold their hands and they could "join" their family in prayer.
Famous people buried in the catacombs include:
- Colonel Enea DiGuiliano (in French Bourbon uniform)
- Salvatore Manzella, surgeon
- Lorenzo Marabitti, sculptor
- Filipo Pennino, sculptor
- Son of a king of Tunis who had converted to Catholicism
- Allegedly Velázquez, Spanish painter, was buried in the Fuensalida vault of the church of San Juan Bautista (Madrid, Spain), and within eight days his wife Juana was buried beside him.
- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa is sometimes said to be buried in the catacombs, but he is buried in the cemetery next to them.
[edit]Tourism
The catacombs are open to the public. Taking photographs inside is supposedly prohibited, however the bodies have been shown on television programmes such as the Channel 4 series Coach Trip, BBC TV series Francesco's Italy: Top to Toe, Ghosthunting With Paul O'Grady and Friends on ITV2 in 2008 and The Learning Channel in 2000. Iron grills have been installed to prevent tourists tampering or posing with the corpses.[3]
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