Grim Mourning and welcome to the Grid. I'm your host Kristin, And on today's episode will be opening the gate and entering the Capuchin catacombs of located in Palmero, Sicily, in Italy. So grab your favorite mug, cozy and let's take a dig into history. Unlike graveyards and cemetery, the catacombs have an even darker, creepier feel to and can scare even the most avid skeptics being notoriously haunted. Maybe it's being underground in a labyrinth of passages surrounded by the dead with no direct escape that, frankly, scares people. Home to one of the largest collections of mummies in the world. The caption Catacombs are is a historical destination that is one of the most impressive places in the but you've most likely never heard of the catacombs. Extensive historical records, large number of and not so dead looking residents will have your spine tingling in no time. Upon a visit descending into the catacombs, visitors look directly into the deceased face with Sicily's taboo past of the dead and the corridors of the subterranean Its complex burial rituals and traditions, oddly enough, came from the very humble and simplistic beginning on accident. The grounds were first a monastery for the Capuchin friary, established in 1534 at the Church of Santa maria del Lady of Peace. The monks, upon passing, were placed in a mass grave under the altar of St and on the ground, similarly to a The only problem they had was the tank ran out of space when the community In 1597, excavations began to create a larger cemetery behind the main altar that reused ancient caves to rehouse the dead beneath the monastery. Two years later, they began re-enactments from the original mass grave to the caves, but found something 45 of the Friar's exhumed corpses were perfectly and naturally mummified. Each corpse was oddly recognizable with zero decomposition. This, of course, was believed to be an act of God, and it was decided to display the bodies as relics along the corridors instead of reburying them as they first intended. This was a common practice of the Catholic Church that like to display anything they thought was godly. Bodies were first dehydrated on the racks of ceramic pipes in the catacombs, awash with vinegar and then embalmed by the monks. The first body displayed in the catacombs was a friar, Sylvester Dokubo, in a simple brown robe and a with a sign of the date of the event. October 16, in And many friars were dressed with their everyday clothing or at times with ropes they wore in Some are also sealed in glass cabinets to aid in but this only adds to the macabre ambience when walking through the turning it almost into a feeling like it's a museum of death. This act of God didn't go unnoticed and attracted attention, with many seeking this new unique form of burial. The monks slowly began accepting outsiders who could afford burial, and then in 1783, opened to the public, or more like the upper class. For the next few hundreds of years, thousands of wealthy citizens, a poor mero and rich celebrities who'd been mummified in the catacombs for all eternity for visitors to see. In an odd turn, mummification became a status symbol, preserving status and dignity in a city where death became a macabre museum. Mummification became so popular with citizens that Romero has more mummies than any other city in the world, including Egypt. But the case holding 8000 corpses and 1252 mummies that line the walls and all of their macabre splendor. Other burial grounds nearby also started offering mummification as well. So Capuchin wasn't the only one. The catacombs housing the dead are divided into halls by categories which decide interment. Within These were divided by men, women, virgins, children, priests, monks and professionals. Some bodies are obviously better preserved than others, and even some are set in poses per requested by the family as coffins were accessible to them. One of the oddest poses within can be seen of two children sitting together that are mummified in a rocking chair. Families were also known to change clothing from time to time based on the wishes of those who passed and maintain the body in presentable conditions. Some residents still even have their eyelashes intact, while others are skeletons dressed in clothes. All this was determined by payment to the monastery through donations from the relatives of the If payment was halted, then the bodies were removed to a less prominent unless payment restarted again. The last friary interred on the grounds was an 1874. Her brother Ricardo, and then the catacombs were officially closed in 1880. Yet. In 1920, a grieving father begged an embalmer by the name of Alfredo Sylvia to preserve his daughter name Rosalie Lombardo, who had died from ammonia as a result from the Spanish flu. Sylvia used his own process in embalming Rosalia perfectly. She was then placed in a glass covered coffin on a wood pedestal that is now kept in a small chapel at the end of a catacomb street. She's so well-preserved that a recent X-ray of her body showed that all of her organs are remarkably still intact to this day. In 2009, National Geographic featured photos of Rosalie Lombardo highlighting she is indeed slowly starting to show signs of decomposition. Her skin is starting to turn at odd yellow color with a waxy texture. Rosalia is known as Italy's sleeping Beauty, and the second to last interment in the catacombs. The honor for the last burial was for Giovani Legarda de Burkina, a count of Anez, though In 1939, Giovanni was a wealthy Italian politician that served as a senator to the Kingdom of Italy until his Sadly, he didn't do much else recorded in history books. Regardless of one's constitution and ideals of death. The catacombs aren't for the faint hearted visitors believing they can handle them. A calm and grim find themselves squeamish and running for the door as quickly as they entered. The corpses hanging by metal wires off the walls in the halls appearing to cry out for help is written straight out of a horror movie, even from a mind like Mario Brava. Nothing compares to knowing that these half skeleton, half human preserved were once indeed living, breathing human beings of one point going down the Hall of Professionals looks more like a Victorian hospitals doctor went it's filled with skeletons dressed in bygone era garments that might come to life at any minute. The room where they drain the bodies can be seen and where the fluids went into a hole in the center of the room. The room opens visitors to the full realization of what it takes for mummification and to imbibe a human Visitors might think the rather large space is overfilled with the dead, but actually many are missing. Throughout the years, the catacombs experienced floods of fire and many bodies were destroyed by bombings that took place during World War So although many still are seen when visiting, the number is drastically less than originally before. But why? That's really the question you ask yourself standing in this museum, surrounded by death, that in Sicily for some years was an extremely taboo But at one time it was very much part of everyday Like many Christians and Catholics, Sicilians on November 2nd find themselves celebrated. Those who've gone before known as All Souls Day. This religious observance is extremely similar to the day most martyrs in But Sicilians have their own unique way of celebrating souls that their ancestors are believed to revisit loved ones in their old homes needing replenishment after their journey from the underworld, families will set an extra place at the table for those who have passed attend a mass held for the remembrance of the and. And then when candles chrysanthemums make the journey to the local graveyard in the evening to pay their respects to their loved ones and decorate their graves, many times the is off to begin by eating a muffle that a around breadth of served hot and drizzled with olive oil, pepper, oregano, anchovies and a sliver of prema solid cheese. A food associated with All Souls Day in Sicily, children will receive gifts left to them by the ghosts from the past. In the house, usually small It's important to note Halloween isn't celebrated. Traditionally. In Sicily, chrysanthemums are more commonly known as moms are associated with All Souls Day symbolize peace, beauty, sympathy, innocence, purity, honesty and The flower is considered a gift given to the dead and for Many Sicilians are extremely superstitious about the or believing it strictly reserved for All Souls and bad luck to bring the flower inside or just purchased for appreciation. The day, however, is not in sadness or mourning, but a celebration of death with This remembrance and day, along with the Friar's ability to preserve loved resonated with the Sicilians provided a unique way of remembrance directly with the deceased, especially on All Souls Day, where many find it macabre story. Fans and scientists have found a plethora of ancient Sicilian history preserved at being mummified. Researchers are now taking mummies and performing X-ray and CT scans, revealing precious insights into history unknown known as the Sicilian Mummy Project. It started in Is led by anthropologist Dario Moe Miskelly of the Department of Culture Heritage in Sicilian Identity in Palermo. Mummies are scanned to document their age, gender and any other information they can from them very How they lived, ate and social interactions can all be researched using radiographic techniques, but more importantly, how they died. For the first time, scientists now know of cancer existed in the What herbs were and and the health of their bodies upon passing. The project also researches into the methods and process of the mummification performed by the friary. What visitors need to remember is this started in 1599, when medicine and knowledge of the human wasn't well known or practiced. In fact, what makes Sicily so unique in a way, is not only having a huge number of but the fact that they did perform mummification outside of the friary. The church did allow embalming, but this was seen as an act reserved for the bodies of saints determined to be incorrupt, not for the wealthy or those in normal society. Then again, for Sicilians who had always been unique in culture and society, perhaps it's just another chapter in their history. Heat figure with its extensive size burials and mummification over the years, the catacombs would have a lot of paranormal Yet not much is and visitors have claimed to hear whistling whispers and upon returning to a room to find skeletons, moved into different positions. No photography is allowed when you descend into this Museum of Death, an entry does cost a small but you're always accompanied with a tour guide around the entire catacomb. Over the years, the catacombs added ironwork gates to keep visitors from touching the But this addition only makes the visitors feel more and like the skeletons are in cages. Those are all agree, even with the thousands of bodies. Oddly, there is no smell. I won't lie as someone who loves graveyards, the macabre or I found the Capuchin catacombs Palmero to be extremely grim, Its wonderment of corpses lining its walls, hung by threads of or is more of a slap in the face by death than saying not only that it comes for us all, but that no matter how hard we try to remain, time erases us eventually, even being perfectly mummified down to the eyelashes. Still, signs remain that time will take its Decay, although extremely slow, is It also questions the visitor to ask herself Would you want to still be slowly decaying on display hundreds of years from now wearing your same favorite outfit? If you thought picking out what to wear for a night out was And what about now for the rest of eternity? It's definitely the lasting impression on visitors that is extremely varied in how it exactly leaves an impression. Would you descend into this necropolis? Or better question is, would you remain for eternity? The grave grime for the Capuchin catacombs was an espresso from the Bar de maria more honorary grins from the area, please visit the dash Grammy.com. For now, we're closing the gate on the Capuchin We hope you enjoyed our dig into history. If you did, please leave us a review. Wherever were haunting your podcast or subscribe to join us next time when we open the The Grim.