Being inspired by a radio show discussing the art and architecture of Italy, I stumbled upon the Capuchin Catacombs during a Google Internet vacation. Initially, I took a virtual tour of the catacombs out of morbid curiosity. It did not take long before that curiosity turned into fascination and imagination. The mummies interred there made a real connection between history and the present. Men, women, and children who have lived and died from mere decades ago to centuries ago, still live on as preserved snapshots of their lives and eras.
If you have further interest of catacombs, I placed a link to the first site I found years ago. It’s an excellent spring board to dive into fascinating Europe. Catacombs, secret passages, marvelous art, lore, legends, and the underground await!
The Capuchin Catacombs are located in the city of Palermo, which is the capital of Sicily. Interred in the Capuchin Catacombs are approximately 8000 corpses dating from the 1500’s to 1920. In the early 16th century, the church originally meant to preserve and make accessible the bodies of monks and friars in order to ask for their intercessions – face to face. The trend caught on, and soon the general populous also wanted to be preserved and buried in the catacombs so families can visit them.
Brother Silvestro is the oldest monk to be buried in the Capuchin Catacombs. It’s fascinating to observe his clothing. The simple headpiece, the humble brown robe. You can easily imagine him walking the monastery grounds, praying at the altar, drawing water, and eking out a living with his fellow brothers.
Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals have traditionally dressed themselves to the hilt! Alas, look at them now. Once powerful men, now powerful men of the catacombs. Dressed in opposite fashion of the humble monks and nuns, imagine the colors, the excitement, and the pomp and circumstance at the time when these church leaders ran about the city and cathedrals amidst the horse clops and aromas of incense and pasta sauce. Still today, especially in Rome, a person can observe ornate high ranking church officials in their colorful garb bustle about in the modern world as you can see in this photograph.
As monks, nuns, and priests filled the catacombs, the common folk wanted in on the action. This photo is fascinating because these two corpses are brothers, painters, and just ordinary men. As I study their coats and headwear, I wonder what they painted. Frescoes? Eateries? Homes and fences and other popular demands? Did they do restoration work on prominent art? Regardless, a lot of beauty flowed through those hands. Who knows? Their handy work is probably still visible today!
These corpses are not really screaming. This is the natural result of decaying muscle and ligaments with the help of gravity. Very shocking and eerie at first, but really very natural and scientific.
Dusty, centuries old mummies may or may not muster much emotional feeling. But the woman and child shown here not only invoke feelings, but elicit curiosity to the histories they have to tell us. It was fashionable for a time to pose bodies as they were in life. Here the woman, maybe a mother with her daughter, are dressed very sharply for all to remember. Wonderfully preserved for generations in their beautiful dresses. Quite possibly victims of an illness or epidemic that struck it’s victims indiscriminately. A brutal reminder that there are forces beyond our control.
Capuchin Catacomb has divisions for men, women, children, professionals, and more. Here is a group of teachers. They may have taught children reading, writing, arithmetic, or maybe they taught higher levels of education. Maybe they were liberal with rulers and switch sticks! But one thing is clear – though here they lay, even today we reap the rewards from their work done generations ago. They educated the masses in their time. Their pupils built on, worked from, and refined that education throughout the ages. Teachers of all ages are one of the most important and fundamental needs of civilization. Their bodies are temporal. Their work eternal.
The Colonel, in a French Bourbon uniform, is an outstanding relic from the past. His uniform floods the imagination of what an officer’s life might have been like in the 1800’s. What code of conduct did he adhere to? Was he a formally educated noble or did he earn his rank through hard work and battle? I can easily imagine this proud man standing at attention, or demanding attention from subordinates. His hat atop his head, cradled in his arms, or sitting proudly in front of him at his desk.
Bartolomeo Megna’s hands are tied, not because he was a prisoner, but to keep them folded in front of him. Similarly, if you further pursue other mummies in the catacombs, you will notice many methods of fastening. Limbs have been known to fall off from time to time. Bartolomeo Megna was a big fellow. He may have had a few friends of smaller stature who looked up to him as friend and protector. Who knows?
This photo gets me down every time I see it. Rosalia was only two years old when she passed away to what is believed to be Pneumonia. But she has a special place in the hearts of visitors and caretakers. She was the last to be interred at the Capuchin Catacombs in 1920.
Shoo now! Explore on your own! If you want a good place to start, you can visit King’s Capuchin’s Catacombs of Palermo Italy. I am not affiliated with her site, but it was the first site to get me interested in catacombs and European history! And she let me borrow some pictures for you kids. Thanks Kimberly!
Hmmm Scary ……. but a nice list
Bleh, I hate creepy stuff. >_<
The pictures are friggin' scary. I'd hate to be near any of these in real life, let alone at night in the dark…
I like it! I like it!
leave it to the church to be the most morbid of all!
Great list and info.
To steal a quote from broadway critics….
“Better than “CATS”!”
brilliant list!
NIce list – picture 1 made me sad…
poor girl, as did picture 5…
But “Teacher’s Department”? Afraid to say it made me laugh (the title, not the section)
Fasinating, interistig list, I will be doing some exploring myself – Tnanks Mouse !
Fascinating list! However I do feel some sort of warning regarding the pictures might be appropriate due to the the scary nature of some of them.
Interesting list! I liked it. I think I will explore that link and find out more about these catacombs. I love the morbid stuff. Thanks!
Wow,this is surely interesting,I hadn’t heard of this stuff before
Some of these resemble the skeletons from POT:the curse of the Black Pearl
Sorry POC
Interesting list…I do similar stuff when visiting museums! I try to imagine a backstory or personal slant on what I’m seeing.
I thought this list was about monkeys
Was the picture of the little Rosalia girl taken in 1920? I wanna see what she looks like now!!
It would be awesome if someone took a pic of this girl everyday for a year when she was interred, and then flipped through them real fast…. Nice List!
@Miss_Info (15): That girl died in 1920 and she looks like that TODAY..
@Miss_Info (15): To be more precise,when she died her body was preserved so well that from 1920 till today,that is her appearance..the poor lil’ girl
@Geronimo1618 (17): Impossible !!? If she looks like that now, I wonder why no ones bought it? It’s not for sale is it?? XD j/k…(I think Jamie would outbid me..)
Little Rosalia Lombardo is very famous in Italy, and Italian scholars are now studing her mummification process.
@Miss_Info (18): Brought it? Brought it?! Dyu think she’s for sale?It’s a tourist attraction spot man albeit a macabre one. I believe you are pulling my leg with that statement..
I wonder what mummification techniques did the ancient egyptians used? (eg.in case of tutankhamun)
‘use’ I mean.. blasted keyboard
@Geronimo1618 (20): I’m pulling your leg, yes…
No 1 is heart breaking.
I wanna be preserved dressed like Bernie from Weekend at Bernies, holding a zong, and watching endless loops of Three’s Company in hi-def…Bring on the tourists!!!
MouseintheHouseMI A superb list and evocative images: tatefully done and I particularly enjoyed your speculations on the residents therein especially the teachers (being one; I thank you for your sentiments) – it is indeed a calling – however all of your suppositions and ruminating is quite poetic: Nicely done.
Have you, by chance had occasion to explore the catcombs of Rome or Paris by web or in life? I have been in the Roman ones but ran out of time before exploring those beneath Paris: especially interesting with regard to the Parisian Catacombs is the fact that they hold the bones of all the past denizens of such infamous old Parisian Cemeteries as “Les Innocents”; made famous by Anne Rice in “The Vampire LeStat”. At it’s height the surface of Les Innocents stood up to 20 feet above the true ground level and decomp fluids ran from the soil at its edges – it could be smelt for hundreds of metres away downwind.
I am taking your advice and shall investigate the Capuchin Catacombs myself.
One final question – do you know whether they have reopened the catacombs for burial? A report we heard is that certain wealthy Sicilians (though not Mafiosa) have been accepted for interment of late.
this seriously freaked me out! OMG! >.<
Geronimo 1618 – in comment 21 you asked about Ancient Egyptian Mummification – check out any good Egyptology site: but basically the process went as follows:
First, the fingernails, toenails and eyes were removed; then an incision was made in the left flank withdrawing the internal organs from the torso – only the heart (the seat of emotion, courage and wisdom) and the kidneys and ureters (symbolising the Nile) were left in place.
The organs were washed in a strong Natron Salt solution, air-dried and then diced finely and placed into four canopic jars – each jar for a separate use:
The STOMACH was placed into a jar topped by the head of DUAMATEF, the jackal-headed god representing the east, Duamatef’s jar and contents were protected by the goddess Neith.
The INTESTINES were placed in the jar topped by the head of QEBEHSENUEF, a falcon-headed god representing the west, his jar and its contents were protected by the goddess Selket.
The LUNGS were placed into the jar topped by the likeness of baboon-headed HAPI, the god representing the north, Hapi’s jar and contents were protected by the goddess Nephthys.
and finally;
The liver was placed into a jar topped by human-headed IMSETI, the god representing the south, Imseti’s jar was protected by Isis.
At the same time a special ‘spoon’ was driven through the base of the skull via the nostrils and the then”whipped around inside the head; jellifying the brain. The brain was then scooped out with the same spoon and replaced with wads of Natron-soaked wrappings.
While the Lungs, Liver, Intestines and Stomach were being preserved, the body was then placed in a very strong Natron Bath – the solution of which was regularly topped-up and renewed: for nobility andf the wealthy this was a 40-day process; for royalty – 70 Days. Only the head and neck were left above the fluid – I’m not sure how the head was preserved – but probably by ‘painting’ the skin repeatedly with spices and lacquers which soaked into the skin.
In the “bath”, all the body fats etc were leached out of the body and the remaining tissues were heavily preserved.
Finally, the body was withdrawn and placed on a mortuary table which was laid with the ends facing the prevailing wind (from the North) to dry out entirely.
When dried, the torso was repacked with rags and bindings soaked in Natron and sewn closed. The eyes were replaced with either ‘glass’ or pottery orbs painted to look like eyes or, more commonly – small onions or garlics. The fingernails and toenails were tied back into place with fine gold or electrum wire.
Finally – the body was then wrapped according to a specific pattern with charms and amulets placed at strategic points and layers to guard the body. As each layer was completed, the entire surface was again ‘painted’ with a resin to seal and preserve the bindings. For Royalty – these bindings could be up to 30 or more layers.
So that’s about it! As I said – read a good Egyptology book or site – choose wisely though: the process I have described is the most reliably reported, but others can be found (yet supposed to be reputable – HA!) that a little less than “accurate”!
awesome list!
@Shagrat (28): Hey thank you sire,that was really illuminating and written in a lucid manner
This is a really really cool list! I’m an ancient history student and I do the same as you MouseintheHouseMI when I look at things from the past, always wondering about the people and what it must have been like!I really like how you wrote it. Theses mummies are a snapshot of a different time, so fascinating!!
very cool list! very creepy!
Fascinating! Thank you.
Is it just me, or did most of these people seem to be DEAD? Guess I’m just not a Catacombs kinda guy. Type of list that makes you look forward to tomorrow’s list.
Superb list – thanks!
Great list – I love European history!
great list but #1 made me sad
…I have a question though, how do they keep their clothes from rotting away?
@Shagrat (28): that was a fantastic comment – thank you. If you wish to write a list related to that topic I would love to see it. Can you tell us why the toenails and fingernails were removed and replaced?
I am inclined to believed that Shagrat worked with Imhotep….just kidding man!!!
i was at these catacombs during the summer, and trust me the pictures dont do it justice, its really weird and macabre. The little girl totally freaked me out, looks like shes sleeping and would wake up any moment!
Very dark, but nice, list
I remembering reading about number 1 only a few days ago – It’s really quite sad….
Excellent list Mouse. I find the normal folks way more fascinating than the hoi poloi (yeah, yeah, I know, not it’s original meaning). I don’t find the pictures in the least disturbing (well ‘cept the little Lombardy) – living folks are far more terrifying.
@Shagrat (28): I was familiar with the egyptian steps to immortality, but like Jamie I didn’t know they removed the finger and toe nails. Natron make them too brittle? Do you know? Great comment btw.
Interesting but I wish I had waited till after breakfast to read it
really creepy!! but very interesting.
@Shagrat (28):
Thanks for the info! I know I´ll probably be called lazy but can you list a few reputable sources? I´d love to learn more.
Quick question: did they preserve the liquified brain in any way or was it considered useless and simply thrown out?
Oh, and Mouse: great list! I too have always been fascinated by catacombs and have the same tendency of imagining what their lives must have been like.
@Shagrat (26): No, I have not been to these places in person, yet. Once the youngest is in college, a European tour is definately on my to do list. I’m a law abiding citizen, but I enjoy after hours urban (and rural) exploration, trailing off from guided tours, and going where the majority of people don’t get to go.
I do not know if they officially reopened the catacombs for burials. The process of mummifaction was banned around the late 1800′s. It wouldn’t spurise me at all if the occasional casket was interred there with a little palm greasing. I’m actually going to start reading “The Vampire Lestat” soon. I finished Brank Stoker’s “Dracula” which got me interested in Anne Rice’s works. I’m in American, and I envy the European history and lore.
Sorry my avatar is non-existant (kinda trollish). I’m behind a firewall which let’s me view LV, but not login.
I’ve got chills,
They’re multiplying…
great list!
i especially love # 5 and # 1.
HA-HA-HA
scary?
creepy?
what are these people talking about!!
these pics are so damn funny, well okay except for that first one… that’s pitiful but still, that Minnie Mouse bowtie got me somehow!
Wait till King Tut hears of this list!
It’s interesting to think of dead people as once alive. It’s hard to imagine the smiles on their faces! But seriously, who would want to get buried based on profession!?
Great list !
What’s interesting to me is that they are from a time so far aware they would be baffled by our “things” and at this same time when can view them more-or-less how they were. So, so long ago.
It really gets you thinking.
aware = away.
I meant to say away.
This list isn’t done very well… the author didn’t provide any actual information on the people’s lives or the circumstances of their death.. just his own musings.
This is a really great list! I’ve always wanted to go to the catacombs and have heard that the ones in Sicily are very interesting. It is so fascinating to speculate on who the people were and what their lives were like.
One of my friends went to the Capuchin Catacombs. He said it was fascinating; I asked him what the people were wearing (as in, were they all in winding sheets, or were they wearing clothing, or what). He responded that he thought that they were wearing whatever they had had on when they took them down there! I got the biggest kick out of that; I had visions of family members going to visit and saying “Oh, Great-great-great-grandmother, your outfit is just SO dated! We’re going to change you into something more fashionable.”
Nice list, and very endearing descriptions.
Well done, MouseInTheHouseMI. It’s lists like these that puts the archeological bug back into me. I, (actually all of us), should not shirk our duty to see the world and everything in it!
I visited Palermo in 1971 and canattest to the preservation of Rosalia, she looks like she might wake up soon!
@Felicity (54): I doubt that there is very much info on the lives of those interred there, especially the every day people. Even today walk through a cemetery and see how little you learn about the lives of those buried there.
Personally I especially enjoyed the musings of MouseintheHouseMI. This is one of the best lists on this site for both it’s subject matter and how well written it is.
The picture of little Rosalia Lombardo effected me a little more than I imagine it did most others. I was once married to a man whose last name is Lombardo and we had a daughter together. She also is blond, so my heart jumped when I got to #1. (BTW, my daughter is alive and healthy!)
Loved the list! Thank you MouseintheHouseMI for posting it.
For anyone interested in reading more, especially about Rosalia, national geographic magazine did an excellent story with lots of awesome pictures…. it was in the past year or so, I can’t remember the month… anyway, great list!