While a villa in Sicily ensures a holiday in Italy full of fun and sun and relaxation, there is more to the stunning island than playing on the beach, sunning oneself on the sand, tasting local delicacies, and wandering around the more typical tourist attractions. There are also some rather more unusual and, even macabre, attractions that will delight and intrigue the more curious tourists in search of fascinating and strange sights that are well off the beaten path. One such impossibly interesting and somewhat morbid gem for those who have found a villa in Palermo, in particular, is the Catacombe dei Cappuccini.
The Catacombe dei Cappuccini, or Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, has become a popular macabre tourist attraction in recent years that is home to the mummified bodies and skeletons of around 8,000 citizens of Palermo who died between the 17th and 19th centuries. Various television shows have been filmed at the Catacombs such as BBC's The Human Body in 1998 and word eventually spread worldwide about the curious place and its somewhat spooky inhabitants. While it has been open to the public for decades in a more ad hoc manner, the catacombs are now more organised, more research is being done, and more rules are in place. Visitors are not permitted to take photographs of the bodies and iron railings protecting them from being tampered with have been installed in recent years
Dating back to the 16th century, when the Capuchin Monastery in Palermo outgrew its original cemetery, the catacombs were first excavated below the building to house future monks after their death. These catacombs were originally intended only for the monks but it became a status symbol in later years for other Palermo citizens to be laid to rest there and more and more people were interred in the tombs. Relatives would visit their deceased and paid to have their bodies maintained in presentable condition. Over time, the tunnels soon came to occupy thousands of dead in various outfits and poses and some 1,252 mummified bodies. The last friar put to rest in the catacombs was Brother Riccardo in 1871 but the very last burials date to the 1920s. The catacombs were officially closed in 1880 but tourists continued to visit and do so to this day. If you are also intrigued by this rather curious sight, then be sure to plan a trip on your next vacation in Palermo.
Dating back to the 16th century, when the Capuchin Monastery in Palermo outgrew its original cemetery, the catacombs were first excavated below the building to house future monks after their death. These catacombs were originally intended only for the monks but it became a status symbol in later years for other Palermo citizens to be laid to rest there and more and more people were interred in the tombs. Relatives would visit their deceased and paid to have their bodies maintained in presentable condition. Over time, the tunnels soon came to occupy thousands of dead in various outfits and poses and some 1,252 mummified bodies. The last friar put to rest in the catacombs was Brother Riccardo in 1871 but the very last burials date to the 1920s. The catacombs were officially closed in 1880 but tourists continued to visit and do so to this day. If you are also intrigued by this rather curious sight, then be sure to plan a trip on your next vacation in Palermo.
Photo credit: Gmihail / CC BY-SA 3.0
