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The Sicilian universe seems to act like a machine of fascination. It looks like the island doesn’t cease to attract a constantly large public eager to discover all kinds of secrets and mysteries. Still, you should know that it is not all about Byzantine and Norman architecture and delicious dishes, but also about dead people. Yes, corpses.

It is best for those who have weak nerves or issues with dead people to stay away from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo. These burial catacombs offer entrance into a world of macabre that seeds imminent touristic attraction. The story of the mummification started in 1599 after the discovery of some bodies that had been naturally mummified. Capuchin monks were the ones to hit upon the mortuary collection and as history presents the facts, they were amazed by their finding. Consequently, they initiated an experiment that basically concerned the mummification of brother Silvestro of Gubbio.

The process involved several steps, starting with dehydration followed by occasional vinegar washes and ending with embalmment. The ritual implied deep respect for the dead that were buried with their clothes or penance ropes. The body preservation into the Capuchin catacombs became iconic and many mummification requests started to pop up. Some were buried in certain clothes, by request, while the friars kept their clerical clothing. It soon became fashionable for the relatives to visit the dead in order to change vestments so their appearance wouldn’t decay.

The mummification soon turned into a highly profitable business. The catacombs needed funding for maintenance. Therefore, as long as the relatives kept on providing financial support, the bodies remained in their initial place. If not, the bodies were placed on a shelf until further payment.

The process kept its progress until 1880 when the catacombs were closed. Still, the most recent interred body is that of Rosalia Lombardo, a 2 year old girl that became one of the primary assets of the human library. The reason is that her preservation presents no damage. Since the procedure of embalmment had disappeared for a long time, no one actually knew how it was possible for the body to remain intact after so many years, until Alfredo Salafia came across the secret. It consists of formalin, alcohol, glycerin, salicylic and the number one ingredient, zinc salts. Each of these has its own purpose and when put together, they serve as a highly effective means of keeping the body intact over decades.

The collection is made of 8000 exemplars that respect a strict order of the categories: women, men, children, virgins, priests, friars and professionals. Two of the most important figures that were buried in the catacombs are sculptors Lorenzo Marabitti and Filipo Pennino. Some of the bodies are in a worse condition than others but they definitely add up to the curiosity that pulls in so many tourists. Some even want to pose next to the corpses, but the prohibition is quite rigid.

After all, why not add some mummy snapshots to the family album?