Featured: Rosalia Lombardo at the Mummy Tombs. One of the last bodies laid to rest in the Catacombs of the Capuchin monks of Palermo, Italy, was Rosalia Lombardo.
Her preserved corpse is the most famous of the 8,000 bodies once found in the catacombs. Only two years old when she died on December 6, 1920, apparently of a bronchial infection, Rosalia has gained fame because of the excellent preservation of her body. Rosalia Lombardo, or "Sleeping Beauty" of the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy. Rosalia Lombardo. Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 in Palermo, Italy – December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who died of pneumonia.
Rosalia's father, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her.[1] Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Embalming[edit] Thanks to Salafia's embalming techniques, the body was well preserved. X-rays of the body show that all the organs are remarkably intact.[2] Rosalia Lombardo's body is kept in a small chapel at the end of the catacomb's tour and is encased in a glass covered coffin, placed on a wooden pedestal. Technique[edit]