Capuchin catacombs of Palermo
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The Capuchin catacombs of Palermo are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily.
Palermo's Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century and monks begun to excavate crypts below it. In the 1599 they mummified one of their number, recently-dead brother Silvestro of Gubbio, and placed him into the catacombs.
The bodies were dehydrated on the racks of ceramic pipes in the catacombs and sometimes later washed with vinegar. Some of the bodies were embalmed and others enclosed in sealed glass cabinets. Monks were preserved with their everyday clothing and sometimes with ropes they had worn as a penance.
Originally the catacombs were intended only for the dead friars. However, in the following centuries it became a status symbol to be entombed into the capuchin catacombs. In their wills, local luminaries would ask to be preserved in certain clothes, or even to have their clothes changed at regular intervals. Priests wore their clerical vestments, others were clothed according to the contemporary fashion. Relatives would visit to pray for the deceased and also to maintain the body in presentable condition. The catacombs were maintained through the donations of the relatives of the deceased. Each new body was placed in a temporary niche and later placed into a more permanent place. As long as the contributions continued, the body remained in its proper place but when the relatives did not send money any more, the body was put aside on a shelf until they continued to pay.
The last friar interred into the catacombs was Brother Riccardo in 1871 but other famous people were still interred. The catacombs were officially closed for use in 1880 but tourists continued to visit them. However, the last burials are from the 1920s. One of the very last to be interred was Rosalia Lombardo, then two years old, whose body is still remarkably intact, preserved with a procedure now lost: the embalmer, Professor Alfredo Salafia took his method with him to his grave.
The catacombs contain about 8000 mummies that line the walls. The halls are divided into categories: Men, Women, Virgins, Children, Priests, Monks, and Professionals. Some bodies are better preserved than others. Some are set in poses: for example, two children are sitting together in a rocking chair.
Famous people buried in the catacombs include:
- Colonel Enea DiGuiliano (in French Bourbon uniform)
- Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author
- Salvatore Manzella, surgeon
- Lorenzo Marabitti, sculptor
- Filipo Pennino, sculptor
- Son of a king of Tunis who had converted to Catholicism
- Allegedly Velasquez, Spanish painter, although his grave is officially unknown
The catacombs are open to the public, but taking photographs inside is prohibited. Also, iron grills have been installed to prevent tourists tampering or posing with the corpses.
