CAPPUCCINI CATACOMB

Sensitive and claustrophobic souls, abstain! Don't take your children either. The Capuchin convent is famous for its catacombs formed by numerous underground galleries in which are lined up more than 8,000 corpses of wealthy Palermo residents who died between the 17th and 20th centuries. Nearly 3,000 have been mummified, others locked in glass cages. But the majority of the bodies remain only skeletons. Most date from the 19th century, when the practice was most popular. It all began at the end of the 16th century, when the cemetery of the Capuchin monastery was running out of space. The monks then decided to build a crypt in the basement. In 1599, they mummified one of their brothers who had died, Silvestro de Gubbi. Over the centuries, it has been customary over the centuries that when a death occurs in a noble family or clergy, the body is given to be embalmed and then entrusted to the Capuchins for display. This was a mark of prestige for the Sicilian elite, and for the monks it was a way of collecting money. Lying, standing or sitting but always dressed (a bit of decency!), staged in the galleries like two children sitting together on a rocking chair, this icy exhibition is spectacular. The priests are dressed in priestly vestments, while the Sicilians are in period clothes. The professors are with the professors, the women are with the women, as are the doctors, the priests and the monks? Each body is meticulously classified by category. The bodies were dehydrated for 8 to 12 months, then washed in vinegar, some embalmed. The sight, for example, of a two-year-old child who died of pneumonia in 1920 and was mummified, called Rosalia Lombardo, with her hair and face perfectly preserved thanks to the work of a Palermo chemist, is particularly spectacular. An X-ray study has shown that even the organs are perfectly preserved. Guy de Maupassant in fact gives an edifying description in his travel diary In Sicily in the 19th century. Francesco Rosi found there the ideal setting for his film with the evocative title Cadavres exquis in 1976, while Giuseppe Ferrara did the same in his film 100 days in Palermo in 1984. Not far away, the cemetery (open every day from 8 am to 2 pm) houses the tomb of Giuseppe Tommaso di Lampedusa, the famous author of the Cheetah, who died in 1957. Pictures are not allowed inside, so don't venture inside out of respect for the deceased. Moreover, reprimands will be supported. Guide advised to understand the history of the place.