She's haunted by honeymoon
Capuchin Catacombs in Sicily leaves an indelible impression of mummies
One of the spookiest places I've ever encountered wasn't a haunted house, and it wasn't on Halloween.
It was the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily. On my honeymoon.
Thousands of mummies -- some frighteningly well-preserved -- line the catacombs under the Capuchin convent in Sicily's capital.
The underground cemetery was dug in the late 16th century, initially to house deceased monks. Nearly 8,000 mummies are openly exposed, stacked ceiling-high in the corridors of the catacombs, lying in open niches or propped up in a standing position, some still dressed in their Sunday best. Monks wearing dark frocks, priests in sacred vestments, aristocrats, poor people in rags and young children resting in their cribs were all buried in the catacombs to await Judgment Day.
The monks who built the convent outside the city walls soon realized the tufa stone in the ground helped preserve the bodies of the dead. They enhanced the process by leaving the corpses to dry for months before treating them with vinegar, lime or arsenic.
The large underground complex basically stopped taking new admissions in the second half of the 19th century. But you can pay a visit from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily for 3 euros, or roughly $4.50.
For my anniversary, I'm thinking Transylvania ...
Contributing: AP