From the street, the Capuchin convent is ordinary Palermo stone. Below it, corridors of limestone are lined with the bodies of friars, nobles, professionals, women, and children; all hung up in the clothes they were buried in.Â
The Capuchins outgrew their cemetery in the late 16th century and cut galleries under the convent. On 16 October 1599 they placed Brother Silvestro of Gubbio here – the first, then nobles asked to follow. Bodies were laid on terracotta racks in a sealed room for eight months to a year, then washed with water and vinegar, dressed, and set in niches. The last friar went in in 1871; official burials ended around 1880, though the galleries stayed open to visitors. Up to about 8,000 bodies are estimated to be in the complex, and more than a thousand mummies line four main corridors; divided by sex, status and trade.
The most recent and the most viewed is Rosalia Lombardo, who died of Spanish flu in 1920, just short of two years old. She is kept in a glass case, and known locally as ‘Sleeping Beauty’.
This location is truly unique in how it is not simply another crypt lined with skulls; but fully dressed, fully standing skeletons all appearing to be waiting for something. There is an underlying expectancy that one will animate at any moment. If there was ever a Backrooms corridor teaming with entities – this is it.
Photo credits: Tripadvisor
