Rosalia Lombardo was born on December 13, 1918 in the city of Palermo in Sicily. She died on December 6, 1920, a week before she turned 2 years old. What is so special about this little girl? Her father was shocked by the terrible tragedy and was very upset about the death of the baby. He turned to the embalmer Alfredo Salafia (1869-1933) and asked him to embalm the child's body to prevent its decomposition.

Mummy of Rosalia Lombardo

Salafiya has his own ball efficient technology embalming. He complied with the request of his grief-stricken father and used his embalming solution. It included elements such as formaldehyde, alcohol, glycerin, salicylic acid, zinc salts and some other chemical compounds. This solution under pressure filled the arteries and dispersed through the blood vessels. Thus, the girl's body was mummified and preserved to this day. It currently resides in a glass coffin in the farthest part of the Capuchin Catacombs in the Chapel of St. Rosalia.

In the first years, the child's mummy had a fresh, natural appearance. The girl seemed to be sleeping. That's why she was called "Sleeping Beauty". Almost 100 years have passed, but Rosalia has changed little. Thousands of tourists strive to see it every year. They travel from all over the world just to look at this small body for just a few seconds.

Employees constantly monitor the condition of the mummy.

It should be said that the real truth about Rosalia Lombardo was lost in a series of decades. It is said that she was the daughter of an Italian general named Mario Lombardo. But there are no official documents telling about her parents. There are no photographs of Rosalia alive. It is only known that she was born a very weak and fragile child. In her short life, she experienced enough pain and illness to last two adult lives.

At the end of the 20th century, there was talk that the girl’s mummy had long since turned to dust and was replaced by a wax copy. This theory was voiced in the documentary film itself. beginning of XXI century. To refute the rumors, X-ray equipment was delivered to the catacombs and the coffin with Rosalia's body was illuminated. As a result of this, not only the skeletal structure was discovered, but also organs that turned out to be intact. The brain was clearly visible, only its volume was reduced by 50% due to mummification.

Released in 2009 documentary, which featured Rosalia Lombardo in full. Viewers were able to see her body both outside and inside. Filming confirmed the integrity of all organs. The arms were also shown lying at the sides. No one had ever seen them before, since they were hidden under the outer cover.

X-ray showing the mummy's ribs and arms

An interesting event happened with the girl’s eyes. Several years ago there was a report that her left eye was opening. It opened almost 5 mm. The right eye also opened slightly, but only 2 mm. Under the eyelids were blue eyes. The reason for this terrible phenomenon was called a change in temperature in the room. But some exalted individuals stated that the spirit of the deceased child had returned to the body. It is not known who is right, but the fact remains a fact.

The perfectly preserved mummy of a girl excites the imagination of many generations of people. Her innocence and purity, forever frozen in time, attract more visitors than any other mummies found in the Capuchin Catacombs. For many artists, Rosalia Lombardo has been a source of inspiration for decades.

In addition to palaces and museums, there is one attraction in Palermo that is not recommended for the faint-hearted and impressionable. The twilight and special atmosphere in this place only add to the thrill of the experience. We are talking about the famous Capuchin Catacombs, a kind of City-Museum of the Dead under the Capuchin monastery in the suburbs of Palermo (Italy).

A little history

The first Capuchins appeared in Sicily in 1534 and settled near Palermo, west of the city. They were given ownership small church of the Norman era - chapel of Santa Maria della Pace.

Next to it, the monks eventually built a monastery and chapel, with most of the funding for construction coming from the townspeople as donations. In 1565, it was decided to reconstruct the church, completely changing its outline and structure. For a number of reasons, repair work lasted for several decades.

As the monastery grew and the brotherhood increased in number, the monks faced the question of a worthy place to bury their dead brothers. The first burials appeared here in 1599, namely in the monastery crypt. The bodies of monks who died a year or two earlier were also transferred here. Gradually, the free space became less and less, and the monks were forced to expand the burial room, digging out a number of tunnels and corridors.

The Church of Santa Maria della Pace acquired its current appearance in 1934, when the church premises were reconstructed. In the interiors of the church, church utensils and works have been preserved art XVI-XVIII centuries.

Description and photo

The burial catacombs are crypt with burial of more than 8 thousand people– many corridors along which numerous mummified bodies of long-dead people stand, lie, and sit. Some mummies are buried in coffins, ranging from simple to elaborate, and some are buried in wall niches.

The location of the burials has its own peculiarity - Not everyone was buried here, each of the dead had their own separate corridor.

The two corridors, the longest and parallel to each other, are corridor of men and corridor of professionals. “People of art” - poets, artists, sculptors, architects - were buried in the latter. There is even a legend according to which Diego Velazquez himself, the famous Spanish painter, is buried in this corridor.

The men's corridor is also impressive in size. They were buried here first influential nobles and clergy, and then noble and wealthy townspeople (especially those who donated considerable sums to the parish). Until 1739, permission for burials in the crypt was issued only by archbishops or leaders of the Capuchin Order. Being buried in an underground crypt was considered very prestigious among the townspeople.

Perpendicular to these corridors are corridor of women, corridor of monks, corridor of virgins, corridor of children and babies. The women's corridor was the only one to be bombed in 1943. Many mummies were completely destroyed, and those that remained were placed in niches and on shelves. Moreover, the almost destroyed faces and bright, perfectly preserved clothes from different eras contrast sharply...

There is a separate corridor of priests, where tourists are not always allowed. There are also closed rooms where high church officials are buried.

The peculiarity of the atmosphere in the catacombs is such that it prevents the decomposition of bodies. All the mummies, thanks to the special temperature of the crypt, were preserved quite well: some have been completely preserved; you can even examine in detail the outfit of the era to which the mummy belonged - from the dress of an ordinary city dweller to the luxurious outfit of a noble nobleman.

Moreover there were some small incidents regarding clothes. Famous townspeople, who bequeathed to bury themselves in the crypt, gave special instructions to the Capuchin monks about how many times a year they needed to change their outfits...

In this video you can see the mummies of the Museum of the Dead - the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo (beware, this is not for the faint of heart!):

Read about other, less scary ones in a separate article. And you will find the whole list famous places on the island of Sicily.

Secrets of little Rosalia Lombardo

The crypt has one more secret, one secret for which tourists visit this place.

In the chapel of Saint Rosalia there is a small coffin, and in it rests the body of a two-year-old resident of Palermo, Rosalia Lombardo, buried here in 1920. She died of pneumonia, and suddenly, and the inconsolable father could not understand that his beloved daughter had died.

The baby's father turned to the then-famous embalmer Alfred Salafia with a request to keep the baby's body incorrupt. After persuasion, Alfred agreed and carried out the will of Signor Lombardo.

Alfredo Salafia never revealed the secret of his magical composition to anyone, so it remains a mystery how the girl’s body has not undergone any changes over many decades– not only soft tissues, but also eyeballs, hair and eyelashes remained unharmed.

Tourists who come to the chapel think that the baby simply fell asleep, and the residents of Palermo themselves call Rosalia Lombardo “our Sleeping Beauty”...

It has been suggested that the baby is in a lethargic sleep, or that she is even a doll. But the results of an X-ray study conducted by a group of scientists in 2009 confirmed that this is a real deceased child, whose body has not undergone any changes.

However, even after the study, scientists were presented with another problem: impartial technology recorded two weak electromagnetic impulses from the child’s brain, as if Rosalia was in a state of sleep.

Chapel workers claim that sometimes a faint aroma of lavender emanates from the girl’s body. Scientists are still unable to explain this phenomenon, but deeply religious people consider Rosalia a “messenger of God”.

For more information about the Sleeping Beauty mummy, Rosalind Lombardo, watch the video:

Find out more about - another vibrant place in Sicily. And about the city of Cefalu on the same island and its interesting places.

Opening hours, ticket prices

The catacombs are available for inspection from 9 to 17 o'clock(during high season, opening hours are extended to 19 hours). Lunch break – from 13:00 to 15:00.

Rosalia Lombardo was born on December 13, 1918 in Palermo - and on December 6, 1920 she was no longer alive. But this girl, who died of pneumonia, became famous only after her death. Rosalia's father, who was grieving her death, turned to the famous embalmer Dr. Alfredo Salafia with a request to preserve his daughter's body from decay. The burial of Rosalia Lombardo was one of the last in the history of the Capuchin catacombs in Palermo.

The girl's body has been buried in a small church in Palermo since 1920. But the most surprising thing is not this at all, but the fact that after her death Rosalia... did not change at all. Thanks to Salafia's embalming technique - or something else - her body, displayed in a glass coffin on a marble pedestal in the middle of the Chapel of St. Rosalia (the last point of the tourist route through the Capuchin catacombs), was preserved until the 21st century in almost its original form. Rosalia's skin did not lose its natural color, the child seemed not dead, but sleeping, which is why Lombardo's mummy received the nickname “Sleeping Beauty”.

Some argue that there is no miracle in this at all - but the whole point is that the unique embalming technology allowed Rosalia's body to remain as it was at the time of death.

A description of the embalming procedure developed by Salafia was found in his manuscript archive by the Messina paleopathologist Dario Piombino Mascali. Salafia replaced Rosalia Lombardo's blood with a liquid composition of the disinfectant formalin, alcohol, which helps the body dry out quickly, glycerin, which protects the mummy from complete dehydration, antifungal salicylic acid and zinc salts, which give the body hardness. Composition formula: 1 part glycerin, 1 part saturated formaldehyde solution of zinc sulfate and zinc chloride, 1 part saturated alcohol solution of salicylic acid. After this, the girl's body was placed in a glass coffin.

However, modern scientists argue that neither this composition nor the procedures performed by Salafia explain such preservation of Rosalia’s body - for 83 years, the girl’s body was so well preserved that even Rosalia’s blond hairs remained practically unchanged. Absolutely everything is intact - eyelashes, soft tissues of the body and even bluish eyeballs, which is almost completely impossible. This phenomenon attracts tourists from all over the world.

Since even scientists consider this an incredible miracle, all this time the body of the deceased Rosalia was under observation. Experts say that weak electrical impulses were recorded emanating from the girl’s brain. The computer recorded two flashes lasting 33 and 12 seconds. This is only possible if the person is alive; similar outbursts can be expected in a sleeping girl, but not in a dead girl.

The monks say that around the mysterious room in which a girl lies in a glass coffin, some miracles are constantly happening. In particular, the key to the wooden grate that closes the entrance disappears.

“35 years ago, the local caretaker suddenly went crazy,” says Father Donatello. “He claimed that he saw Rosalia open her eyes. It lasted only half a minute. Afterwards, scientists examined the body and confirmed that something was wrong.” Local residents claim that they saw trembling eyelids and there were witnesses who heard Rosalia sighing, although from a medical point of view the girl is dead.

The same monks claim that Rosalia’s body at times exudes the scent of wildflowers, lavender in particular. Neither scientists nor priests have an explanation for these facts.

Experts say that there is a simple, not at all mystical explanation for this. "It's just optical illusion, produced by light falling on the mummy’s face from different angles at different hours,” explained catacomb caretaker Dario Piombino-Mascali.

Rosalia Lombardo was born on December 13, 1918, in the Italian city of Palermo, Sicily region (Palermo, Sicily, Italy). The baby caught pneumonia, and her life was cut short on December 6, 1920, shortly before turning two years old.

Grief-stricken father Lombardo was painfully worried about the death of his daughter. He contacted a Sicilian chemist and embalmer named Alfredo Salafia and asked him to protect Rosalia from decomposition.

Alfredo responded to the request of his grieving father and made an embalming solution using his own formula. Among others chemical compounds, the mixture included formalin - for disinfection, zinc salts and salicylic acid - to give the body strength, glycerin - to prevent the mummy from complete dehydration and alcohol - to quickly dry the body. The solution was released under pressure through the arteries and distributed throughout the blood vessels.

Paleontologist Messina Dario Piombino Mascali said at the end of the 20th century that he was able to figure out the secret of Alfredo's recipes after studying the discovered diary of a Sicilian embalming expert. Subsequently, the technique worked successfully in practice.

Rosalia became the most famous work Salafiya. Referred to by some reporters as “the most beautiful mummy in the world,” the dead girl’s first years were no different from the living one. It seemed that Lombardo was simply sleeping soundly. In the mummified body, not only the soft tissues of the face remained incorruptible. A Sicilian chemist processed the baby's eyeballs, hair, eyelashes, brain and insides.

Over the next hundred years, The Sleeping Beauty (Italian: Bella addormentata) has remained virtually unchanged. And yet, in the mid-2000s, the first signs of decomposition began to appear. The mummy is currently kept in the Chapel of Santa Rosalia in a glass coffin filled with nitrogen and insulated with lead foil. For complete sealing, the glass container is sealed with wax. The chapel itself is located in the farthest part of the Capuchin Catacombs.

Located beneath the Monastery in Palermo, the Capuchin Catacombs, where some 8,000 people are buried, are visited annually by thousands of tourists from all over the world. Rosalia, along with US Vice-Consul Giovanni Paterniti, who is buried here, remain the main attractions of the catacombs to this day. The baby was the last of those buried, and the official closure of the Capuchin Catacombs took place back in 1881.

True facts from short life Rosalia could not help but be “diluted with rumors,” which have accumulated in abundance over the decades. In fact, there is not a single photograph of the living Sicilian girl, not a single official document revealing the identities of her parents.

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Rumor has it that Rosalia was the daughter of Mario Lombardo, an Italian general. It is known that the girl was born fragile and weak. In the 24 months of her life, she experienced enough pain and battled enough illness to last an adult's lifetime.

At the end of the 20th century, people appeared who claimed that the baby’s mummy had long crumbled, so visitors to the catacombs were lured simply by a wax copy of Lombardo. To refute the rumors, X-ray equipment was brought to the chapel of St. Rosalia. Research has shown that not only the cellular structure was preserved, but also the internal organs of the mummy. The illuminated coffin with Rosalia's body also helped establish that her brain remained intact, although it had decreased by 50% in volume due to mummification.

In 2009, a documentary was released about “the most beautiful mummy in the world.” Viewers were shown the girl's body inside and out, including her arms lying at her sides. Previously upper limbs were hidden under the outer cover.

A few years ago, the media reported that Rosalia had “opened her eyes.” Her left eye seemed to open almost 5 mm, while her right eye opened by 2 mm. As they write, the baby’s blue eyes were revealed under her eyelids. Some were so amazed by the terrible phenomena that they began to claim that her spirit had returned to the body of the deceased.

The mummy scares tourists visiting the catacombs, who think that the girl’s eyes are actually opening slightly. But catacomb caretaker Dario Piombino-Mascali says it's all about an optical illusion.

According to Dario, Rosalia's eyelids were never closed tightly. IN different time day, the light falls on the mummy’s face at certain angles, which creates the illusion of the eyes opening and closing.

Others call the real reason Rosalia's "open eyes" - temperature fluctuations in the catacombs.

The Capuchin catacombs are divided into a corridor of monks, men, women, professionals, priests, a new corridor, a cubicle of children and virgins. Video and photography in the catacombs is prohibited.

Despite the fact that this girl lived less than two years, with December 13, 1918 before December 6, 1920, today everyone knows her, from young to old. At the same time, Rosalia’s popularity has already come after how she left this world.

Whose photographs during her lifetime are quite few, she died of pneumonia. Her father, who was very difficult to come to terms with with the death of his beloved daughter, he decided to take a desperate step, turning to one of the best embalming specialists of that time Alfredo Salafii. His only request was that Alfredo, by any means possible, preserve the body of the deceased Rosalia in the same form as it was during life. Journalists who for some time had access to the girl's embalmed body described her as a very beautiful mummy. Thus began one of the most unusual and exciting stories on.

Interestingly, Alfredo Salafii, whose diaries were re-examined at the end of the last century, actually managed to achieve amazing results by embalming Rosalia's body. In addition to the fact that the girl’s body was perfectly preserved in appearance, the specialist also managed to preserve all internal organs and brain. Alfredo himself hid your secrets in personal diary where is Dario Piombino Maskali Almost a century later, I managed to find the recipe for the master’s unique solution. it included glycerol, alcohol, formalin, zinc and several other chemical ingredients. Also Alfredo, making a mummy out of Rosalia Lombardo, released a special liquid into her arteries and veins, which completely matched the color of healthy blood. Thus, he managed to save all circulatory system mummified girl from destruction.

The Miracle of Rosalia Lombardo

After her death, the girl's body was placed in a small church in Palermo. Since 1920, Rosalia Lombardo has been there. But the most interesting thing is the uniqueness of the preservation of the body. In fact, for almost a century, the girl has not changed at all. Some believe that this effect was achieved thanks to Salafia’s unique solution. Others believe that this is a real miracle. Regardless of who is really right, modern photo by Rosalia Lombardo prove that she looks like Just not for long fell asleep, but did not die in 1920.

The girl's skin is still the same appearance like living children. Thanks to this, local journalists quickly dubbed Rosalia “ sleeping beauty Palermo". The level of preservation is so good that even the girl’s hair, eyelids and eyes remain apparently alive. This is impressive and amazes the imagination of those who see Rosalia with their own eyes.

Even several serious studies by scientists over a hundred years have not been able to really explain how this is possible. Many scientists who worked with the girl’s body openly recognized the very fact of her existence today in this form as a real miracle. Moreover, during the entire research period, twice the brain of the dead Rosalia emitted electrical impulses, which can usually only come from living organisms.

Local monks also have their own opinion. They tell the story of how one day opened my eyes. It was thirty-five years ago and the watchman who was in the hall with the girl’s body, seeing this, went crazy. True, according to the monks, opened my eyes"sleeping beauty" is only thirty seconds. But, from time to time, even journalists photographing the girl claim that it seems that her eyes sometimes open slightly. No one has yet been able to find a logical explanation for this.

There are still people who claim that Rosalia Lombardo is just sleeping, however, is in some unusual dream. In addition, given the fact that mummification of bodies in Sicily began in the sixteenth century and mummies were accumulated only in about 8000 pieces, the uniqueness of Rosalia’s body only increases - it is preserved tens of times better than all the other bodies of the Capuchin catacombs.

Photo of Rosalia Lombardo during her lifetime unfortunately they were not preserved. Don't forget, this was the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, we can only admire the sleeping beauty in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo.

See Rosalia Lombardo now

It is possible that her mummy is in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo. How to get to the catacombs and opening hours, we wrote in detail in our article ““. If desired, we can organize an individual excursion to the Catacombs, because... It's quite a long walk from the center. Leave your requests in the comments!