Catacombe dei Cappuccini

These underground burial galleries beneath a Capuchin friary on the edge of Palermo hold thousands of preserved bodies, many still clothed and arranged upright in wall niches. Beginning in the 16th century, the friars developed methods of desiccation that kept the remains remarkably intact, and over time citizens paid to be interred here in their finest garments. Corridors are divided by profession, sex and age, giving an unusual and sobering record of local society across the centuries.