Capuchin Catacombs

The Capuchin friars found in the late sixteenth century that bodies placed in their crypt dried out and preserved, and began arranging them in the corridors; over three centuries the practice extended to lay people who paid for the privilege, and around eight thousand bodies and mummies are held, dressed in their own clothes and grouped by category, with corridors for men, women, priests, professionals and children. The last burials were in the 1920s. Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old who died in 1920, was embalmed by a chemist whose formula was only reconstructed decades later and is unusually well preserved.

History

Palermo's Capuchin monastery outgrew its cemetery in the 16th century and the monks began digging crypts beneath it, and in 1599 they mummified one of their number, Brother Silvestro of Gubbio; bodies were dried on racks of ceramic pipes and sometimes washed with vinegar (Wikipedia, Catacombe dei Cappuccini).

What to look for

• The sorted corridors - bodies grouped by trade, status, sex and age.
• The original clothing - the dead dressed as they were buried.
• Rosalia Lombardo - a 1920 embalming preserved unusually well.
• The scale - around eight thousand bodies and mummies.

When to go

Year-round; the catacombs close for a midday break. It is cool underground. Photography is prohibited and the rule is enforced.

What to expect

This is a burial place holding real human remains and is genuinely confronting; it is not suitable for everyone or for young children. Photography is banned.

Nearby

Central Palermo lies east; Monreale is uphill.

Key facts