This post people will find either extremely interesting or extremely gruesome and morbid, or maybe a little of both. I must say when we visited these catacombs I was absolutely amazed by them. You must take into consideration that the Italians and Sicilians treat death much differently than we do. When someone dies, family members must wear black for various lengths of time, depending on how they are related. For instance, a woman whose husband dies will wear black for the rest of her life. This includes a black dress or skirt and blouse, black shoes, black stockings, and a black scarf on her head. Funerals are huge gatherings, usually done either the same day or the day after death, especially in summer months. I don't know if this still holds true, but when we were in Sicily there was no such thing as embalming, and with the heat as opressive as it was in summer bodies did not keep well. Mourners walked behind the hearse to the cemetery, following the priest, who prayed the entire way. In Sicily, since it is an island, bodies were not buried underground, but in vaults and mausoleums. These were very elaborate and people saved all their lives to build these huge mausoleums for entire families. Pictures were placed on the fronts of the vaults and mausoleums of the deceased.
We visited the Capuchin Catacombs in late 1973. One of the corpsmen at the dispensary had told us of them, so one weekend a group of us traveling in convoy visited the site. The catacombs date back to 1599 when local priests mummified a holy monk because they wanted to be able to see him when they prayed to him. Eventually the local inhabitants of Palermo wanted their relatives to be remembered in the same way. It didn't take long before there were hundreds of corpses. Some people wrote wills which went so far as to dictate in what clothes they were to be dressed, or to have their clothes changed over a period of time. There are also many coffins in the catacombs, some with the sides cut out so the deceased could be seen. Families would go to the catacombs and hold the hands of their deceased loved ones as they prayed for them. Children were sometimes posed, stood or sat together in chairs.
Many of the corpses have lost their flesh and are only skeletons, but others still have mummified flesh, hair and even eyes. All are dressed in clothing from the tme period in which they died. Colonel Enea DiGiuliano is in the catacombs still wearing his French Bourbon uniform from the 1800's. Some of the corpses appear to be screaming, but this is due to distortion of time. Some are missing body parts which have fallen off over time.
One method used to embalm bodies was to dip them in arsenic or lime. This method was used often during epidemics. Another method of embalming was by dehydration. Bodies were placed in cells, called strainers, along the passageways of the catacombs. The bodies were dried in these cells for about eight months, then taken out and washed in vinegar before exposing to air. They were then dressed and placed in niches, coffins or on the walls, depending on the instructions of the deceased or their relatives.
Monks are buried in the clothing they wore. Sometimes ropes can be seen hanging from their necks. The ropes were worn in life for penance and they continued to wear them in death. The first monk buried there is Borther Silvestro of Gubbio, who was placed there in 1599, and the last monk, Brother Riccardo of Palermo, was placed there in 1871.
The various halls are divided into nine categories: Men, Women, Children, Virgins, Priests, Monks, Professors and Professionals. The Professionals Hall contains writers, lawyers, priests and at least one American. In the Professors section are professors, dotors, lawyers, painters, officers and soldiers of the Bourbon and Italian Army. Included in this hall is the painter Velasquez, sculptors Filippo Pennino and Lorenzo Marabitti and surgeon Salvatore Manzella.
The poem "The Sepulchres" was inspired by a visit on November 2, 1777 by the author, Ippolito Pindemonte, and because of this the Mayor of Palermo dedicated the street to him which runs from Corso Calatafima to the convent and the catacombs.
We visited the Capuchin Catacombs in late 1973. One of the corpsmen at the dispensary had told us of them, so one weekend a group of us traveling in convoy visited the site. The catacombs date back to 1599 when local priests mummified a holy monk because they wanted to be able to see him when they prayed to him. Eventually the local inhabitants of Palermo wanted their relatives to be remembered in the same way. It didn't take long before there were hundreds of corpses. Some people wrote wills which went so far as to dictate in what clothes they were to be dressed, or to have their clothes changed over a period of time. There are also many coffins in the catacombs, some with the sides cut out so the deceased could be seen. Families would go to the catacombs and hold the hands of their deceased loved ones as they prayed for them. Children were sometimes posed, stood or sat together in chairs.
Many of the corpses have lost their flesh and are only skeletons, but others still have mummified flesh, hair and even eyes. All are dressed in clothing from the tme period in which they died. Colonel Enea DiGiuliano is in the catacombs still wearing his French Bourbon uniform from the 1800's. Some of the corpses appear to be screaming, but this is due to distortion of time. Some are missing body parts which have fallen off over time.
One method used to embalm bodies was to dip them in arsenic or lime. This method was used often during epidemics. Another method of embalming was by dehydration. Bodies were placed in cells, called strainers, along the passageways of the catacombs. The bodies were dried in these cells for about eight months, then taken out and washed in vinegar before exposing to air. They were then dressed and placed in niches, coffins or on the walls, depending on the instructions of the deceased or their relatives.
Monks are buried in the clothing they wore. Sometimes ropes can be seen hanging from their necks. The ropes were worn in life for penance and they continued to wear them in death. The first monk buried there is Borther Silvestro of Gubbio, who was placed there in 1599, and the last monk, Brother Riccardo of Palermo, was placed there in 1871.
The various halls are divided into nine categories: Men, Women, Children, Virgins, Priests, Monks, Professors and Professionals. The Professionals Hall contains writers, lawyers, priests and at least one American. In the Professors section are professors, dotors, lawyers, painters, officers and soldiers of the Bourbon and Italian Army. Included in this hall is the painter Velasquez, sculptors Filippo Pennino and Lorenzo Marabitti and surgeon Salvatore Manzella.
The poem "The Sepulchres" was inspired by a visit on November 2, 1777 by the author, Ippolito Pindemonte, and because of this the Mayor of Palermo dedicated the street to him which runs from Corso Calatafima to the convent and the catacombs.
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