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In many parts of the world, the
bones of the deceased are displayed in chapels called ossuaries, seemingly for
the edification of the living, a reminder of mortality. One of the most macabre
is the Capuchin crypt of Santa
Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy. I was lucky enough to have visited
the crypt, which contains the skeletal remains of 4,000 bodies believed to be
Capuchin friars.
When the monks arrived at the
church in 1631, they brought 300 cartloads of deceased friars with them and
placed them in the crypt below the church. By order of Pope Urban VIII soil was
brought from Jerusalem for the crypt. Fr. Michael of Bergamo supervised the
placement of the bones in the crypt in intricate patterns. Large numbers of
bones are nailed to the walls, many are piled high, and some hang from the
ceiling as light fixtures.
As monks died during the lifetime
of the crypt, the longest-buried monk was exhumed
to make room for the newly-deceased who was buried without a coffin, and the newly-reclaimed bones
were added to the decorative motifs. Bodies typically spent thirty years
decomposing in the soil, before being exhumed. There are six rooms in the
crypt, five featuring a unique display of human bones believed to have been
taken from the bodies of friars who had died between 1528 and 1870.
The day I visited the crypt a dour
old Capuchin friar collected a modest admittance fee from me and silently pointed
the way down to the crypt. I thought he was pretty spooky but the crypt was spookier.
In the still and silent rooms, leg and arm bones, ribs and pelvises, grinning
skulls completely surrounded me. They were arranged on the ceiling in floral
wreaths and displayed along the walls in amazing patterns.
In at least one room, complete
skeletons clad in brown monk’s robes stood against the wall, torsos drooping
forward, the dusty, eyeless skulls peeking out from beneath their hoods. Some
skeletons reclined in grizzly sleep upon platforms made entirely from bones. In
one room a skeleton held a scythe in its right hand, the symbol of Death which
cuts all down like grass, and in its left hand, a set of scales symbolizing the
good and evil deeds weighed by God when he judges the human soul. A placard in
five languages declared: "What you are now we used to be; what we are
now you will be..." It is no
wonder that the Marquis de Sade thought his 1775 visit to the crypt was worth
the effort.
As I stood in the crypt, the dark,
dusty bones surrounding me, the skulls staring at me sightlessly, I could feel
my skin prickling, the hairs at the back of my neck rising. I had the wild
sensation that if I suddenly turned around I would find one of those dead monks
standing right behind me. It seemed entirely plausible to me that the spirits
of those dead friars were accessible to those who would listen . . . and listen
I did. When I thought my senses could not take any more I hastened back up
stairs and out into the noisy and bustling traffic of Rome. In the brilliant
daylight, I gulped in the polluted air of Rome as though it was the breath of
life.
Here are pictures of some other
famous European ossuaries:
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| Capela dos Osos - Evora, Portugal |
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| Capuchin cataciombs - Palermo, Sicily |
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| Hallstatt Karner - Hallstatt, Austria |
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| Paris catacombs |
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COMING SOON: “The
Phantom Zone: Altered States and Paranormal Experiences” by Dr. Andrew Nichols
I’m
excited to have noted parapsychologist Dr. Andrew Nichols guest blogging on my
site. Stay tuned for his article.
