The Best Preserved Child Corpse in the World
Rosalia Lombardo died of pneumonia in Palermo, Siciliy on December 6, 1920, at the tender age of 2. Her heartbroken father, a well-to-do general, enlisted the services of Alfredo Salafia, the country’s best embalmer. General Lombardo also secured Rosalia the honor of one of the last spots in the Capuchin Catacombs. To this day, Rosalia resides in a small chapel, within a glass covered coffin, and is considered the best-preserved child corpse in the world. Salafia’s embalming techniques and recipes are studied the world over, but it seems he might have done his job too well. Numerous visitors, lingering overlong in her burial chamber, have sworn that every once in a while little Rosalia opens her eyes. Skeptics are quick to pass off these claims as nothing more than the illusory products of morbid imaginations.
(via odditiesoflife)
