The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, have some of the world’s best preserved mummies. The most famous being the body of a little Italian girl, Rosalia Lombardo, who died in 1920 from pneumonia at the age of two.
Rosalia’s father was sorely heartbroken by his child’s death that he requested a well-known Sicilian embalmer, Alfredo Salafia, to preserve her. Salafia’s embalming technique has left the little girl’s body completely intact for almost 100 years, making her look like she’s just sleeping in her coffin.
However, Rosalia is most talked about not only because she has the most well-preserved body amongst the 8000 mummies in the catacombs, but also because many have “witnessed” her open and close her eyes several times during the day.
The “blinking” of Rosalia’s eyes inside her coffin has been the subject of many speculations for some years.
Dario Piombino-Mascali, curator of Capuchin Catacombs, offers an explanation for this creepy phenomenon:
“It’s an optical illusion produced by the light that filters through the side windows, which during the day is subject to change.” He further said that Rosalia’s eyes are “not completely closed, and indeed they have never been.”
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Credit: KnownUnknowns