[5] To address these issues, the mummy was moved to a drier spot in the catacombs, and her original coffin was placed in a hermetically sealed glass enclosure with nitrogen gas to prevent decay. They are arranged in sections such as religious figures, professions, women, virgins and children. Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 - December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who passed away of pneumonia. Mario and Maria are not married at the time of Rosalia's birth, but they are very much in love. Others passed this phenomenon off as changes of the light. La Pascualita: An Extremely Well-Preserved Corpse, or an Eerily Life-like Mannequin? If you want to visit Rosalia, youre not alone. Husband of Maria Di Cara Rosalia Lombardos angel face pushed him to improve the preservation technique in order to preserve its natural beauty. Then one day one of the descendants of the Salaria family remembered that she had kept an old manuscript. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge of Humanity! They began to mummify dead friars and before long this technique of preservation after death became a sought after practice for the high classes of Sicily. It is December 13, 1918. Her curly blonde hair and a ribbon on it make her look like she is just sleeping. Moreover, her striking crystal blue eyes are also visible underneath the blonde eyelashes. The catacombs are open nearly everyday and the entry fee is only 3 euros. [2] The paraffin dissolved in the ether, then wiped on the girls face, making it look like she is looking directly at those who are looking at her. Get notified of the best best booming posts weekly. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'historyofyesterday_com-box-3','ezslot_6',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-box-3-0');ummification, even if still practiced to this day in remote cultures, is very rare in the western world. Alfredo Salaria used glycerin, formalin, zinc salts, alcohol and salicylic acid on the body of little Rosalia. This added to an intricate system of drying rooms within the catacombs which implement pipes to drain any excess water and ultimately keep the bodies of the deceased dry. Rosalia Lombardo: The mystery of the Blinking Mummy, Present condition of Rosalia Lombardos mummy: The preserved corpse was relocated. Rosalia Lombardo is known by many names; The Worlds Most Beautiful Mummy, Sleeping Beauty, The Girl In The Glass Coffin and of course: The Best Preserved Mummy In The World. Rosalia's father, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her. Legend has it that she was a sickly child who suffered illnesses and pain until she contracted a pneumonia at the age of 2 and died from her illness. Many of the bodies who hang on the walls were protected in cages because some tourists had a kleptomaniacal penchant for taking bones as souvenirs. Life is full of constant reminders that we will one day die. Created By: Gillian Sarah | Copyright 2018 Kelsea Ventures, style="display:block; text-align:center;" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3840146551937959" data-ad-slot="9292028712">. Alfredo also designed an ad hoc coffin for little Rosalia, with a glass lid welded to a wooden crate, so that the body could be preserved for a long time, since there was no contact with light, since in this way no one could touch the body. The Lombardo family was from Italy and even if the Spanish flu pandemic was coming to an end, it seems that the girl's pneumonia was caused by this deadly virus. Rosalias preserved body came out looking like the most alive mummy in the world. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) was an Italian child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, one week shy of her second birthday. Alfredo Salafia, a taxidermist, and a skillful embalmer, then mummified the dead body of Rosalia Lombardo with impressive skill, preserving her so well that even her internal organs were kept intact. Rosalia was born on December 13, 1918 and died on December 6, 1920 of pneumonia. The mummy is one of the best preserved bodies in the catacombs. What is even more interesting is that upon an X-ray of the mummified corpse, it seems that Rosalinas organs have been perfectly conserved. Her grieving father couldn't settle . The body of Rosalia is famous among the 8,000 bodies present in these catacombs under the Capuchin convent. Many others thought that the eyes might blink due to the temperature changes inside the catacomb, which made her eyelids contract and thus produced the blink-like effect. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 1920) [1] was a Palermitan child who died of pneumonia, resulting from the Spanish flu, [2] one week before her second birthday. All rights reserved. Biblio data only below the dashed line. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. It is difficult to untangle the feelings aroused by Rosalia, innocent and young, yet frozen between worlds, un-allowed to decay least her family lose her spirit forever. The researchers were able to ascertain that the internal organs are still in perfect condition, but it is the face that is surprising, that face that every visitor to the Catacombs of Palermo can observe with his own eyes. This shifting of her body allowed Piombino-Mascali to see her eyelids from a new angle. Coming to this conclusion was not difficult for them. Not only that, he also added paraffin, duly dissolved in ether. The changing direction of the light through the day makes Rosalias eyes seem to open and close many times. Many people believed that Lombardo had opened her eyes a fraction of an inch in a composite of many time-lapse photographs. X-rays of the body reveal that all of the organs are extremely healthy. Geni requires JavaScript! Alfredo Salafia was regarded as the finest because of his extensive knowledge in the preservation of corpses. One strange phenomenon that scared all the tourists visiting the catacombs was that the mummy was blinking or at least that is what most people saw. Friars live their lives in servitude to society and the Capuchin friars created a monastery which in due course had the crypts below it excavated in 1599 when the graveyards filled henceforth known as the Catacombs of the Capuchins. It is thanks to all of this that little Rosalia's body has reached us intact. The blinking mummys mystery became famous across the world. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. The salts preserved her appearance perfectly, even preventing her nasal cavities and her cheeks from caving in. According to him, everything people are seeing is actually an optical illusion. Her father, Mario Lombardo wanted to know the exact cause of her death in order to "blame" someone. The Remains of Dead US Presidents Will Be Sent Into Space, The Man Who Surgically Brought Back Unicorns. One piece of evidence pointing to Mario being her father is that he supposedly named his second daughter Rosalia (after the first). It seems that it was a common practice to insert a bottle in the coffin containing the reagent capable of preventing the formation of mold and ensuring that the body was preserved longer. After washing with vinegar, they were filled with straw and then dressed. Salafia recorded the chemicals he injected into Rosalias body: formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin., Formalin (formaldehyde and water) eliminates bacteria When he uncovered this trove of the embalmers papers, he stumbled upon the document where the embalmer recorded all the chemicals that were injected in the body of Rosalia. A tuft of hair is also held in place by a yellow bow. Palermo is a city with amazing architecture which much of its designs remaining from the Norman and Arab invasions. This may just be one of the best-preserved mummies in the world, however, it is only 100 years old so it should not be the greatest wow factor. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. People have witnessed that her eyes open slowly, and that the eyes seem to glisten due to the low lights in the catacombs. Zinc to petrify the body. The body was so amazingly preserved that Rosalias body is intact over 100 years later. Rosalia's face has very sweet features, with the plump cheeks of a two-year-old girl, delicately framed by fair hair. The mummification was so complex that in 2009 National Geographic took X-ray and MRI scans of Rosalia to determine if she was truly mummified, or if she was a wax replica. Rosalia meant the world to her family, especially her father who sought to preserve her eternally. First solid scientific evidence that Vikings brought animals to Britain, 500,000-year-old tools in Polish cave may have belonged to extinct hominid species. Available at: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/01/rosalia-lombardo-mummy-that-blinks.html, Mystery of The Blinking Child Mummy Solved. Her body is starting to take on a yellow waxy skin texture. Rosalia Lombardo born on December 13, 1918, was a Sicilian kid that died of pneumonia on December 6, 1920 from the Spanish flu. Rosalia Lombardos body is kept in a small chapel at the end of the catacombs tour and is encased in a glass covered coffin, placed on a wooden pedestal. Later it became part of the Roman and Arab Empires before unifying with the modern-day Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Source: Multidetector CT investigation of the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo (19181920): https://www.academia.edu/4992159/Multidetector_CT_investigation_of_ Geni requires JavaScript! But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Bipin Dimri is a writer from India with an educational background in Management Studies. Rosalia died due to pneumonia in a region which becomes extremely cold in the winter months. A corridor of mummies inside the catacombs. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 - 6 December 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 undertake the task of preserving her. Her father, Mario Lombardo wanted to know the exact cause of her death in order to blame someone. But let's go back to that December 6, 1920. Another writer speaks of the temptation and sights that Palermo offers to some famous people of history past, Aunique cultural heritagethat in many centuries has attracted and fascinated onlookers from all over the world, including many intellectuals, poets and writers such asAlexandre Dumas, Mario Praz, Guy de Maupassant, Fanny Lewald and Carlo Levi.. Connect to 3,088 Lombardo profiles on Geni, Antonino Lombardo,
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