In the musty basement of a monastery in Palermo, Sicily, there are around 8,000 corpses. Residents of the Capuchin catacombs rage in age and present condition, but come together on display in one of Italy’s most morbid (and haunted) tourist attractions.
The first person to be entombed here was Silvestro da Gubbio, a monk at the monastery who died in 1599. Silvestro is still in the catacombs, with many of his fellow monks going on to join him. For the first few centuries of the catacombs’ use, it was reserved for monks at the monastery or for other important, religious figures who wanted to be buried there.
Over time, members of the public could spend eternity here – if they paid the right price. It definitely wouldn’t have been everybody’s choice, but some locals desperately wanted the dried corpses of their family and loved ones to be strung up and put on display for visitation.
There are many different ways to display a skeletal corpse, it turns out. Some are pinned to the walls, some stand side by side or sit next to each other; others are lying in open coffins or resting on shelves. Perhaps most haunting are the babies and small children, lying in glass cabinets and tiny coffins.
One of these children is Rosalia Lombardo, who is believed to be the last person to be entombed in the Capuchin catacombs. Rosalia was just two years old when she died of Spanish Flu in 1920. She was embalmed after her death, using “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 to give the body rigidity.”
The process meant that Rosalia stayed looking remarkably human for much of the 20th century. Decades after her death, she still looked as if she was just sleeping, and it is only in recent years that her appearance has begun to decay.
During the earlier years of the catacombs, bodies weren’t embalmed and would mummify gradually over time. They would open the corpse and remove the vital organs, before leaving the bodies to dry out and steadily drip away the remaining bodily fluids. They would then be rinsed with vinegar, sometimes stuffed with hay and then dressed up in their Sunday best.
These skeletons still line the corridors of the Capuchin catacombs, divided into rooms and areas reflecting their professions. Some have little notes around their neck, with a name or the years they lived. Others have no identifying marks at all. Almost most unnerving are the skeletons whose hair and beards have remained long after the rest of them has disappeared.
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Tickets are €5 and a monk continues to sit behind the ticket desk. If you’re in the beautiful city of Palermo and want something a little different, these are dusty old catacombs like few others. But beware, they are considered one of the most haunted buildings in the whole of Italy.
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