Museum of the dead in Palermo

Catacombs of the Capuchins (Italian Catacombe dei Cappuccini) - burial catacombs located in the city of Palermo in Sicily, in which the clear remains of more than eight thousand people, most of the local elite and eminent persons - clergy, nobility, and representatives of various professions. This is one of the most famous exhibits of mummies - skeletirovannye, mummified, embalmed bodies of the dead lie, stand, hang, form a composition.
By the end of the XVI century the number of inhabitants of the monastery of Capuchin greatly increased, and there was a need for decent and spacious cemetery for the brethren. For this purpose we adapted the crypt under the temple of the monastery. In 1599 there was buried brother Silvestro of Gubbio from, and then were moved here a few remains of the previously deceased monks. In what has become the crypt room cramped, Capuchins, and gradually dug a long passage in which up to 1871 placed the body of the dead monks.Philanthropists and benefactors of the monastery also expressed a desire to be buried in the Catacombs. To their graves were dug and additional lanes kubikuly. Up until 1739 the burial permit issued in the Catacombs of Palermo or the leaders of the archbishops of Capuchin, then - the abbots of the monastery. In XVIII-XIX centuries Capuchin Catacombs are a prestigious cemetery for the clergy, the nobility and the bourgeois families of Palermo.

 Capuchin catacombs were officially closed for burials only in 1882. For three centuries in this unique cemetery were buried around 8000 residents of Palermo - the clergy, monks and laymen. After 1880, for exceptional petitions in the Catacombs were placed a few of the dead, including Vice Consul Giovanni Paterniti (1911) and two years of Rosalia Lombardo, the incorrupt bodies of which are the main attractions of the catacombs.

 Already in the XVII century it became clear that the singularity of soil and atmosphere Capuchin Catacombs inhibit decomposition of bodies. The basic method of preparation of bodies to be placed in the Catacombs was drying them in special chambers (Collatio) for eight months. After this period, mummified remains were washed with vinegar, dressed in finest clothes (sometimes, according to the wills, the body changed clothes several times a year) and placed directly in the corridors and kubikulah Catacombs. Part of bodies placed in coffins, but in most cases the bodies were hung, exposed or laid in an open form in niches or on shelves along the walls.

 During epidemics method of preserving bodies was modified: the remains of the dead were immersed in diluted lime or solutions containing arsenic, and after this procedure, the body also exhibited on display. In 1837, the placement of bodies in the open form was prohibited, but, at the request of testator, or their relatives, to forbid circumvention: the coffins were removed one of the walls or leave "windows" that allow to see the remains.

 The most famous part of the Catacombs is the Chapel of St. Rosalia (up to 1866 was devoted to the Virgin of sorrows). In the center of the chapel in a glass coffin lies the body of a two-year Rosalia Lombardo (she died in 1920 of pneumonia). Rosalia's father, grieved her death, upon well-known doctor, Alfredo Salafi embalmer with a request to keep daughter's body from decay. The successful embalming, whose secret is Salafi and has not opened, the body remained incorrupt. Remained intact not only the soft tissues of the face the girls, but the eyeballs, eyelashes, hair.

 Currently, the secret of Italian scientists has been established. According to data from a diary found by Salafi, a convoy with formalin, alcohol, glycerin, zinc and some other ingredients. The mixture is fed under pressure through the artery and disperse through the blood vessels throughout the body. U.S. study on the use of embalming Salafi gave excellent results. Rosalia Lombardo burial was the latest in the history of the catacombs in Palermo, Capuchin. With mummy girls associated with a number of mysterious stories. Thirty-five years ago, the local caretaker had gone mad. According to him, he saw the girl opened her eyes

 In kubikule adjacent to the chapel, is perfectly preserved a few more bodies. These include the body of a young man with fiery red hair, a few priests, as well as U.S. Vice Consul Giovanni Paterniti (died 1911), the only one buried in the catacombs of a U.S. citizen.

 For convenience, the orientation of rooms are divided into categories: men, women, virgins, children, priests, monks, and "profession." Corridor monks is a historically the most ancient part of the Catacombs. Burials were made here from 1599 to 1871 years. On the right side of this entrance corridor (not open to the public) put the body 40 of the most revered monks and people somehow connected with religion.

 Turned into a skeleton remains are amazing contrast with the children's suits and dresses, lovingly chosen by her parents, as indicated by Maupassant in "The Stray life": "... We come into a gallery full of small glass coffin: the children. As soon became strong bones did not survive. It is difficult to discern that, in fact, lies before you, so they are mutilated, crushed, and terrible, these miserable kids. navertyvayutsya But the tears in your eyes, because mothers have dressed them in little dresses they wore in the last days of his life. and all the mothers still come here to look at them on your children! "