After the embalming, Rosalia was then transported to the Catacombs of the Capuchins, which was made possible by the mayor of the city, Giuseppe Lanza di Scalea, who in fact gave his permission. Rosalia Lombardos Xray By National Geographic. The heartbroken father of Rosalia sought the help of an embalmer named Alfredo Salafia to preserve his childs body. It was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenician Empire who we have spoken about many times onSTSTW Mediaas one of the defining civilisations of our time. Not only was the eye blinking mystery solved by Piombino-Mascali, but he also managed to track down the embalming formula Alfredo Salafia used to preserve the body of Rosalia in such impeccable condition. The combination of these ingredients worked to preserve the body. [4] 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. The other bodies present in the catacombs. All rights reserved. Missing Three Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers. Mario Lombardo Collection: FamilySearch Family Tree Birth: 1890 - Italy Death: 1980 Wife: Maria Lombardo (born Di Cara) Children: Rosalia Lombardo, Rosalia Lombardo View the Record view all Immediate Family Maria Di Cara wife Rosalia Lombardo daughter Rosalia Lombardo daughter About Mario Lombardo In the depths of the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily lies the dead body of a young girl in a wooden and glass casket. Rosalia is surrounded by many other bodies, over 8000, who sleep their eternal sleep in the Catacombs of the Capuchins. Accordingly, the formulas composition is one part glycerin, one part formalin saturated with both zinc sulfate and chloride, and one part of an alcohol solution saturated with salicylic acid.. Top Image: Rosalia Lombardo. [7] The embalming formula is described as "one part glycerin, one part formalin saturated with zinc sulfate and zinc chloride, and one part of an alcohol solution saturated with salicylic acid", and was entered into the body through a single-point injection, most likely into the femoral artery via a gravity injector. In the 100 years since her death in 1920, Rosalia has become interwoven with Sicilian lore. It was still a mystery until the curator of Capuchin catacombs, Dario Piombino-Mascali, proved a new theory. Nobody can answer these questions, a mystery that after all it is perhaps good that it remains so. Who is right? Home. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason, therefore, if in the end Rosalia's body has always remained there, where it was first placed. A 2009 National Geographic photograph of Rosalia Lombardo shows the mummy is beginning to show signs of decomposition, most notably discoloration. The skin of Rosalia still appears very smooth, as if it is made of porcelain. Rosalia Lombardo sadly passed away just before her second birthday back in 1920 due to a case of pneumonia, which experts suggest was likely caused by the Spanish flu pandemic. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_8',119,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');However,Dario Piombino- Mascali, the curator of Capuchin Catacombs has assured us that all that people are seeing is, in fact, an optical illusion. The salts preserved her appearance perfectly, even preventing her nasal cavities and her cheeks from caving in. Catacombe dei Cappuccini | Palermo, Italy, Fact Analysis: Directories Newly added. Despite offering her the best medication possible at the time, she was too young and didnt have a strong enough immune system to be able to fight pneumonia. The zinc sulfate was used to petrify the body. [3] Sometimes called "Sleeping Beauty", hers was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Her premature death at age two left her father grief-stricken. Rosalia Lombardo. It should be remembered that in 1925, five years after Rosalia's death, the Lombard couple had another baby girl, who was called with the same name as their little sister, in her eternal memory. In fact, some say that Rosalia amplifies human nature in regards to the fascination of the unknown, specifically death and also with the immorality of an immortal body. One resident was not famous in her short life but became infamous in death. Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 - December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who passed away of pneumonia. Since 1920, her body has been lying in a glass-covered coffin, her head poking above a fading silk blanket. Generated by Wordfence at Thu, 2 Mar 2023 1:21:04 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. When reports of Rosalia Lombardos eyes opening shocked the local community an Anthropologist called Dario Piombino-Mascali investigated the catacombs. Indeed, she is nicknamed the sleeping beauty. The researchers then created a new aluminum case for Rosalia Lombardo, saturated with nitrogen, and moved the girl's body to a less humid place. It is possible that contact with the air before its replacement may have resulted in damage. Alfredo Salaria used glycerin, formalin, zinc salts, alcohol and salicylic acid on the body of little Rosalia. We can only imagine the agony of the parents of little Rosalia. In 1920, a little girl known as Rosalia Lombardo died at the age of two due to an aggravated case of pneumonia. X-rays of the body show that all the organs are remarkably intact. It is considered one of the best-preserved mummies in the world. 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. Glycerin prevented her body from desiccating or drying out. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. (Sibeaster / Wikimedia Commons). Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that Rosalia's parents requested that the child's body be entrusted to Alfredo Salaria, one of the most famous embalmers of the twentieth century, with the hope in this way of being able to pay homage to the memory of the little girl, torn all too young to life, with the hope of being able to stop the passage of time. A strange phenomenon that scared all tourists visiting the catacombs was that the mummy was blinking. 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. She looks like a baby peacefully taking a nap, and although a blanket is placed over the coffin, the face is visible. Her mummified body, sometimes referred to as 'Sleeping Beauty', was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin . Maria Cara Lombardo e Mario Lombardo, i genitori della piccola Rosalia (per gentile concessione della Famiglia Lombardo) . Her father Mario Lombardo, who was an local official, engaged noted embalmer, Alfredo Salafia to mummify her body. 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The father refused to bury his daughter, seemingly extremely traumatized because of losing his child.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_5',104,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Rosalias death took place only a week shy of her second birthday. She lies in the coffin, glass-covered and on a wooden pedestal. These cookies do not store any personal information. If you think you have been blocked in error, contact the owner of this site for assistance. Rosalia Lombardo, was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. Who is wrong? It is December 13, 1918. Others passed this phenomenon off as changes of the light. Rosalia's father, Mario Lombardo, was grieving her death, asked Alfredo Salafia, an embalmer, to preserve her remains. Rosalia Lombardo: The mystery of the Blinking Mummy, Present condition of Rosalia Lombardos mummy: The preserved corpse was relocated. Mario, her father, approached Alfredo Salafia, embalmer and taxidermist, to preserve her. The Lombardo family was Italian and although the Spanish flu pandemic was ending, it seemed that Rosalia's pneumonia may have been caused by this deadly disease. Suddenly, however, fate plays a mocking trick on the couple. Rosalia Lombardo born on December 13, 1918, was a Sicilian kid that died of pneumonia on December 6, 1920 from the Spanish flu. Her name is Rosalia Lombardo, and she died of pneumonia caused by the Spanish Flu just one week shy of her second birthday in 1920. I wrote about the Capuchin Catacombs already, but essentially, the Catacombs were a place where the dead were displayed in order to be visited by the living. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Ninety years ago, on December 6, 1920 Rosalia, daughter of Official Mario Lombardo, died of pneumonia at the age of two. This mystery of blinking eyes, and the well-preserved body is what makes Rosalias mummy so fascinating. Maria di Cara, his partner, has in fact just given birth to their first daughter, Rosalia. He was always waiting for . Genealogy for Mario Lombardo (1789 - 1864) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. His body is not here, it has been buried. The empty body is then filled with natron salts, which desiccate it. However, once down the stairs the scene begins to change to a more basic overlay. (The oldest is a friar from 1599 called Silvestro da Gubbio). On December 6, 1920, a few days after her second birthday, Rosalia died. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. The formula consisted of formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. Rosalia's father, Official Mario Lombardo, was sorely grieved upon her death, so he approached Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, to preserve her. Thanks to Salafia's embalming . However, they are not perfectly closed, they are actually ajar, as if it were sleeping, yes, but on the verge of waking up. While Rosalia was mostly kept intact during embalming, her blood was drained and replaced by the magical formula used by Alfredo. 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. Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 4 million WordPress sites. She lays near THOUSANDS of preserved humans in the 4 corridors beneath the Capuchin Church - Palermo, Sicily for all to see. Rosalias preserved body came out looking like the most alive mummy in the world. The embalming took place right there, in that house where the little girl lived her first two years of life, happy and surrounded by the love of her family. Your email address will not be published. Your email address will not be published. The body of little Rosalia has closed eyelids as if she were sleeping. ", "This Mummified Two-Year-Old Appears to Blink Every Day", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rosalia_Lombardo&oldid=1135738502, Sleeping Beauty of the Capuchin Catacombs, Being in an especially well preserved state in her tomb, in the, This page was last edited on 26 January 2023, at 15:26. Rosalia's body was one of the last to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Piombino-Mascali, in trying to find out the formula, tracked down the living relatives of the embalmer. Rosalia Lombardo (13 December 1918 6 December 1920)[1] was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. There is one last curiosity concerning Rosalia Lombardo. Heres some history and a video: Rosalia Lombardo (December 13, 1918 in Palermo, Italy December 6, 1920), was an Italian child who died of pneumonia. Rosalias gaze is something that has attracted onlookers to Palermo for a hundred years. He studied and experimented, yes, but in total autonomy. 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">. The daughter was always sick. In regards to the prized and most adored attraction Roaslia -a glass case has been added with Nitrogen gas to further stop the process of decay after signs of decomposition began to show in 2009. Rosalia was born on December 13, 1918 and died on December 6, 1920 of pneumonia. It is reasonable to believe that the embalmer made a choice of this type to pay homage to this young missing soul, to ensure that this body could give the appearance of life. They moved to other Italian cities and then also abroad, thus without having the opportunity to choose a cemetery where to bury their child. One of the properties that makes Rosalia such a beautiful mummy is the embalming process that was used to preserve her. In fact, the body of little Rosalia has organs in a perfect state of preservation and you can see how one lung is denser than the other, a clear sign that the little girl actually fell ill with bronchopneumonia. What is certain, however, is that Alfredo Salaria was a great lover of chemistry as well as anatomy and over the years he had the opportunity to do many experiments, first on animal bodies, then starting from the early 1900s also on human corpses. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. [6] The mummy remains one of the best preserved bodies in the catacombs. Obviously it was expensive, for this reason these bodies almost all belong to people of high class. He has written for 8 years in a variety of fields including history, health and politics. To address these concerns, Rosalia Lombardos body was relocated to a more dry area of the catacombs, and her original coffin was put in a hermetically sealed glass container filled with nitrogen gas to prevent further decomposition. The body was beautifully preserved thanks to Salafias embalming procedures. A city steeped in religious history; it was also home to a Catholic sect called the Capuchins (An order of friars and one of the main offshoots of the Franciscan order created by famous religious devout Francis of Assisi). X-rays of the body reveal that all of the organs are extremely healthy. Geni requires JavaScript! 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. A symbol of love, death, loss and a reminder of just how short life can be. Mario Lombardo is an infantry officer who only on this day discovers what happiness is, true happiness. 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.. Her name is Rosalia Lombardo who died on November 6th, 1920 with only two summers to her name and remains the youngest on show. The story of Rosalia Lombardo got to Profesor Salafia, therefore he never charged the father for his services. Many find it too overwhelming to be underground with what looks like an army of the dead from a horror film, including an Argentinian companion of mine who had to surface for air and rejoin the mortal beings above. Life goes on happily for Mario and Maria. The changing direction of the light through the day makes Rosalias eyes seem to open and close many times. X-rays of the body show that all the organs are remarkably intact. He then approached the monks who ran the Capuchin Catacombs and begged for his daughter to be placed there. Why is there an Elephant Buried Beneath the Vatican. Alfredo Salafia was considered the best as he had a lot of experience preserving corpses. [9] In response to speculation about her moving eyelids, Piombino-Mascali stated that "It's an optical illusion produced by the light that filters through the side windows, which during the day is subject to change [her eyes] are not completely closed, and indeed they have never been". To add further to the folklore surrounding the Sleeping Beauty, rumor had it that Rosalia would blink multiple times a day. [8], The mummy has achieved further notoriety for a phenomenon in which her eyes appear to open and close several times a day, revealing her intact blue irises. He then handed it over to the researchers who discovered the formula right there to guarantee a body the eternal sleep it deserves. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. The Remains of Dead US Presidents Will Be Sent Into Space, The Man Who Surgically Brought Back Unicorns. Get notified of the best best booming posts weekly. MYSTERIESRUNSOLVED & MRU MEDIA, 2019-2022. Full text data coming soon. Rosalia died of pneumonia on December 6, 1920. In 1933 when the Sicilian embalmer passed away, he wrote down the secret formula of the preservation. Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. Connect to 3,088 Lombardo profiles on Geni, Antonino Lombardo,