At the end of the 16th century, the friars of the Capuchin Monastery had run out of space in their cemetery. The solution was to start excavating Crypts below the cemetery, where they would inter the mummified bodies of those in their order.
Originally intended only for the dead friars, the catacombs soon became home to luminaries, priests and civilians, many preserved and wearing their finest clothes. Today, visitors can view the more than 8000 human remains lining the walls, or placed on shelves.
8000+ Bodies
In 1599, Brother Silvestra of Gubbio was the first monk to be interred at the Capuchin Catacombs. Upon death he had his organs removed, the body cavity was stuffed with straw, and then taken to be dehydrated, semi preserving the body.
He was dressed in simple clothing: a brown robe and simple headpiece. His body was then transported to the catacombs and placed in a niche.
More than 400 years later he is still there.
Since 1599 more than 8000 bodies have been placed in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily. At first it was just the monks and friars of the Capuchin Monastery that were placed within the underground halls, passages and rooms of the catacombs, their cemetery having reached capacity, but after a time the catacombs were opened up to others as well.
The catacombs are organised into sections, Monks, priests, teachers, professionals, men, women, children (held on cots or located high on the walls in small niches), are just some of the different areas designated for different people. There is also a section specifically for adult, virgin, women.
The bodies are on display along the walls, held in niches or placed on shelves, staring back at you from blank sockets. There are also many coffins within the catacombs, but much of the time a side has been removed, allowing the viewing of the body within, or allowing the body within a view of the living.
Not all of the bodies have fared as well as the others. Much of the time the skin is cracked and peeling, showing the bones beneath. Many of the remains look to have their faces locked in a never ending scream, a result of the decay process.
Straw can be seen poking through the parchment like skin of the neck, and poking out of the wrists of some of the bodies.
Why?
The original idea of the catacombs was so the members of the Capuchin order could ask their departed predecessors intercessions, a prayer to God on behalf of another, face to face.
When the general populous started to use the catacombs, the reason was not so different. They could visit the preserved remains of their past family members, and still bring them into their prayer circles, holding the hands of the deceased to keep them in with prayer on special occasions.
AThe Capuchin Catacombs stopped taking bodies in 1920. One of the final internments was that of two year old Rosalia Lombardo. Rosaria died of pneumonia and her father, General Lombardo, took her body to noted embalmer Alredo Salafia.
Salafia used a special method of embalming which was so effective that Rosarios body looks to just be sleeping. The only indication of something out of the ordinary is that she has a slightly orange pallor.
The Capuchin Catacombs present a unique time capsule of nearly a half a millennia of fashion. Although monks, friars and priests are generally preserved in their religious wear, the general populace were interred in their finest clothes.
A fashion show through the ages if you will.
The catacombs are open to the public. Grills have been installed to help with the problem of some visitors posing with the corpses... or worse still, taking home souvenirs...
