The mummy of Rosalia Lombardo opened her eyes. The mystery of the sleeping beauty: the mummy that winks at tourists

Despite the fact that this girl lived less than two years, with December 13, 1918 before December 6, 1920, today everyone knows her, from young to old. At the same time, Rosalia’s popularity has already come after how she left this world.

Whose photographs during her lifetime are quite few, she died of pneumonia. Her father, who was very difficult to come to terms with with the death of his beloved daughter, he decided to take a desperate step, turning to one of the best embalming specialists of that time Alfredo Salafii. His only request was that Alfredo, by any means possible, preserve the body of the deceased Rosalia in the same form as it was during life. Journalists who for some time had access to the girl's embalmed body described her as a very beautiful mummy. Thus began one of the most unusual and exciting stories on.

Interestingly, Alfredo Salafii, whose diaries were re-examined at the end of the last century, actually managed to achieve amazing results by embalming Rosalia's body. In addition to the fact that the girl’s body was perfectly preserved in appearance, the specialist also managed to preserve all internal organs and brain. Alfredo himself hid your secrets in personal diary where is Dario Piombino Maskali Almost a century later, I managed to find the recipe for the master’s unique solution. it included glycerol, alcohol, formalin, zinc and several other chemical ingredients. Also Alfredo, making a mummy out of Rosalia Lombardo, released a special liquid into her arteries and veins, which completely matched the color of healthy blood. Thus, he managed to save the entire circulatory system of the mummified girl from destruction.

The Miracle of Rosalia Lombardo

After her death, the girl's body was placed in a small church in Palermo. Since 1920, Rosalia Lombardo has been there. But the most interesting thing is the uniqueness of the preservation of the body. In fact, for almost a century, the girl has not changed at all. Some believe that this effect was achieved thanks to Salafia’s unique solution. Others believe that this is a real miracle. Regardless of who is really right, modern photo by Rosalia Lombardo prove that she looks like Just not for long fell asleep, but did not die in 1920.

The girl's skin is still the same in appearance as that of living children. Thanks to this, local journalists quickly dubbed Rosalia “ sleeping beauty Palermo". The level of preservation is so good that even the girl’s hair, eyelids and eyes remain apparently alive. This is impressive and amazes the imagination of those who see Rosalia with their own eyes.

Even several serious studies by scientists over a hundred years have not been able to really explain how this is possible. Many scientists who worked with the girl’s body openly recognized the very fact of her existence today in this form as a real miracle. Moreover, during the entire research period, twice the brain of the dead Rosalia emitted electrical impulses, which can usually only come from living organisms.

Local monks also have their own opinion. They tell the story of how one day opened my eyes. It was thirty-five years ago and the watchman who was in the hall with the girl’s body, seeing this, went crazy. True, according to the monks, opened my eyes"sleeping beauty" is only thirty seconds. But, from time to time, even journalists photographing the girl claim that it seems that her eyes sometimes open slightly. No one has yet been able to find a logical explanation for this.

There are still people who claim that Rosalia Lombardo is just sleeping, however, is in some kind of unusual dream. In addition, given the fact that mummification of bodies in Sicily began in the sixteenth century and mummies were accumulated only in about 8000 pieces, the uniqueness of Rosalia’s body only increases - it is preserved tens of times better than all the other bodies of the Capuchin catacombs.

Photo of Rosalia Lombardo during her lifetime unfortunately they were not preserved. Don't forget, this was the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, we can only admire the sleeping beauty in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo.

See Rosalia Lombardo now

It is possible that her mummy is in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo. How to get to the catacombs and opening hours, we wrote in detail in our article ““. If desired, we can organize an individual excursion to the Catacombs, because... It's quite a long walk from the center. Leave your requests in the comments!

More than 100 years have passed, but little Rosalia has hardly changed in appearance. Every year the chapel is visited by thousands of curious tourists from all over the world to look at this small body.

Rosalia Lombardo was born a weak and fragile child and died of pneumonia when she was almost two years old. It happened in December 1920 in the city of Palermo, Italy. Rosalia's father was very upset about her death, so he turned to the famous embalmer Alfredo Salafia. He asked to save his daughter’s body from decay. And he agreed. He replaced her blood with a liquid composition of formalin, which disinfected and prevented cadaveric bacteria from developing on her body, alcohol, which promotes rapid drying of tissue, glycerin, which protects the mummy from complete dehydration, antifungal salicylic acid and zinc salts, which gave the body hardness. The dead girl looked like she was alive, only dozing a little from fatigue in her beautiful dress.

Salafiya's excellent embalming technique kept Rosalia's mummy in good condition until the 21st century. When the first signs of decomposition became visible in early 2000, Rosalia Lombardo's coffin was placed in a glass container filled with nitrogen. Today it stands on a marble pedestal at the farthest part of the Capuchin Catacombs, in the middle of the Chapel of Saint Rosalia. The mummy was popularly nicknamed “Sleeping Beauty” because until Rosalia’s skin lost its natural color, the child seemed not dead, but asleep.

At the end of the 20th century, rumors began to circulate that the girl’s mummy could be replaced with an ordinary wax copy. To refute this, researchers brought X-ray equipment into the catacombs and illuminated the coffin with Rosalia’s body. It was real. The X-ray revealed not only the skeleton, but also the girl’s internal organs, which turned out to be intact. The brain was visible, only its volume was reduced by 50% due to mummification.

More than 100 years have passed, but little Rosalia has hardly changed in appearance. Every year the chapel is visited by thousands of curious tourists from all over the world to look at this small body. Rosalia Lombardo is one of the main attractions of the Capuchin catacombs located under the Monastery in Palermo. She was the last body to be buried here. In total, about 8,000 people are buried in the catacombs, including the one buried by US Vice-Consul Giovanni Paterniti. The official closure of the Catacombs for burials took place in 1881.

It is worth noting that a couple of years ago, information appeared in the media that Rosalia’s eyes began to open. Her left eye opened almost 5 mm. The right one is only 2 mm. The world was able to find out what color the Sleeping Beauty's eyes were - sky blue. The mystics, of course, immediately declared that the spirit of the deceased girl had finally found her body. However, such an unusual phenomenon can be fully explained from a scientific point of view. Rosalia Lombardo's eyes were never closed tightly. And they opened slightly due to a change in temperature in the room. In addition, at different times of the day the light falls on the baby’s face at certain angles. Therefore, from the outside, the illusion of eyes opening and closing is created.

Baby's angel-like face Rosalia Lombardo captivates with beauty. Plump lips, tender cheeks and closed eyes - she has remained like this for almost a century. The body of two-year-old Rosalia was embalmed using a special technology, and today "Sleeping Beauty" considered the best preserved mummy in the world. However, this mummy has its own secret, which will shock everyone who dares to look at it.

Baby Rosalia was only two years old when she died of pneumonia in 1920. The inconsolable father, not knowing how to survive the pain of loss, turned to the famous embalmer and taxidermist Alfred Salafia for help with a request to preserve the body of the angelic child. The specialist coped with the task perfectly: for a whole century, the baby’s body lay in the burial catacombs in Palermo (Italy). The girl's body looked beautiful, it seemed that she had fallen asleep for a short time and was about to wake up. Chubby cheeks, elegant hairstyle with a bow - Rosalia looked like she was alive.

When scientists discovered Rosalia's mummified body, they gave her the name "Sleeping Beauty." Having illuminated the body with X-rays, they were amazed: the internal organs remained incorruptible. Today, the body of Rosalia Lombardo is considered one of the best preserved mummies in the world.

The mummy of Rosalia also has its own mystery: visitors who come on an excursion to the catacombs claim that they can see the baby opening her blue eyes. What they see causes fear among tourists. According to one version, the “winking” effect occurs due to temperature changes inside the crypt; the skin of the eyelids shrinks, opening the pupils slightly. However, exhibition curator Dario Piombino-Mascali believes that the winking eyes are an optical illusion. As the sun illuminates the catacombs, the rays fall on the girl’s face in such a way that her eyes look slightly open. This phenomenon can be observed several times throughout the day. Dario found the answer in 2009, when museum workers moved the girl’s coffin, and it became clear that the eyelids were slightly open.

It is also interesting that Dario found the relatives of the talented embalmer, and they kept documents with a detailed description of the procedure for embalming the body. Instead of removing all the internal organs, Alfred Salafia made a puncture in the body and gradually introduced substances one by one, which ensured the perfect preservation of the body over time. Formaldehyde killed bacteria, glycerin was used to prevent the body from drying out, and salicylic acid was used as an antifungal agent. In addition, Salafiya used zinc chloride to petrify the body, and in the future there would be no failure in the cheeks and nasal cavity.

If there was a beauty ranking among mummies, this beautiful little girl would take first place every year. It is impossible to believe that she has been dead for over 100 years. Like alive. It feels like she will soon wake up, smile and say that this is a prank and you were played. But unfortunately, she left this world long ago.

She has her own little secret, which causes people to fall into a stupor, turn pale and lose consciousness. Next we will talk about the secrets of beauty and the secrets hidden behind the angelic appearance of the most beautiful mummy in the world.

Rosalia Lombardo was only two years old when she died of pneumonia back in 1920. Her premature death left her father in shock and depression. He decided to turn to the famous specialist Alfredo Salafia for help and asked him to preserve Rosalia’s body through embalming and mummification. To somehow tame the pain of loss.

Alfredo Salafia, a skilled embalmer and taxidermist of his time. He performed an incredible, beautiful and complex operation on Rosalia that even a hundred years after death, it seems that the girl is simply sleeping under glass in a wooden box. The girl's body is located in the Capuchin catacombs in Palermo, Italy.

Her small cheeks still look firm and healthy plump. Locks of blond hair are neatly gathered above her head and tied with a silk bow. In addition to the beautiful appearance, so to speak, in relation to a dead, small child. Her internal organs are not damaged, as confirmed by x-ray scanning.

Rosalia Lombardo has long been nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty", gaining a reputation as one of the best preserved mummies in the world.

Rosalia's perfectly preserved body is only part of the story. The girl's visitors swear that she blinks and winks at them. In the GIF we see her eyelids opening and closing. Or is it so it seems?

Some claim to have seen her eyes. The beautiful blue eyes of Sleeping Beauty are also preserved in excellent condition. They are intact, as is most of the body. You can see how they shine, as if alive.

Research says that changes in temperature inside the crypt may cause Rosalia's eyelids to clench and unclench, producing a blinking effect. But the curator of the Capuchin Catacombs, Dario Piombino-Mascali, puts forward a different theory. Piombino-Mascali believes that Rosalia's winking eyes are an optical illusion. Caused by the angle of light from the windows hitting her face. As the day passes and the angle of the light changes, it appears that the girl opened and closed her eyes several times.

Piombino-Mascali made the discovery in 2009 when he noticed workers at the museum had moved her coffin, causing her body to shift slightly, allowing him to see her eyelids better than ever before. Piombino-Mascali realized that Rosalia's eyes were never completely closed.
Another big discovery was the secret formula that Alfredo Salafia used to embalm Rosalia's body. Which subsequently kept it in impeccable condition.

In 2009, Piombino-Mascali found living relatives of Alfredo Salafia. After talking with them, they agreed to hand over documents belonging to Salafiya, where he wrote down his secret procedure and the formulas of the substances used.

Unlike typical embalming, where internal organs are removed and the empty cavities are filled with solutions and the body is completely dried out, Dr. Salafia made a small puncture in the body and injected a mixture of formaldehyde, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid and glycerin. Each ingredient in the mixture did its own unique and subtle job.

Formalin killed all bacteria, glycerin ensured that the body did not lose moisture, salicylic acid destroyed fungi and mold. The magical ingredient was zinc salts, which froze Rosalia's body in its original state. They gave rigidity and elasticity to the skin and muscles, preventing the cheeks and nasal cavities from collapsing.

The Sleeping Beauty is one of eight thousand mummies in the Capuchin Catacombs in Sicily. This was one of the last corpses to be accepted into the catacombs.

Rosalia's X-ray shows that her brain and liver are intact. The mesh in the picture is the coffin under the body.

Probably the most famous mummy in the whole world is Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. And the most beautiful and young Rosalia Lombardo.

The incorrupt mummy of a two-year-old girl who died in the Sicilian city of Palermo in the 20th century is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful mummies in the world; she is also called the sleeping beauty of Palermo. Rosalia Lombardo is absolutely untouched by decomposition and looks as if she had just died, and not almost a century ago; some people who saw her even doubt whether she was replaced with a doll. Of all the Sicilian mummies, she is the most perfect.

Photos of Rosalia during her lifetime, as well as her other facts, have not been found; there is a version that her father is General Lombardo. What is known for sure is that the child did not live to see his second birthday for a week, dying of pneumonia, and the baby’s grief-stricken father turned to the embalming master Alfredo Salafia, famous not only in Sicily, but also far beyond its borders, who created this masterpiece.

Salafiya was a true master of his craft, having begun his experiments in embalming on animals, he managed to invent a formula for an embalming substance, with which he even made a mummy of his own brother. He visited the USA with his experiments and gained worldwide fame. In Italy, he was trusted to embalm the bodies of prominent political and religious leaders. The mummy of the American consul kept in the museum is also his work.

The secret of his success lay in the formula of a substance that replaced the blood of the deceased, all internal organs remained in place and were also embalmed. This substance was sold, but its composition was lost with the death of the author. Already today, scientists and researchers have found relatives of Alfredo Salafia; fortunately, they have preserved his personal notes, which indicated the composition of the miraculous remedy.

• formalin - destroys microorganisms and disinfects,
• alcohol dries out
• glycerin - prevents loss of too much moisture,
• zinc salts - make the body of the deceased rigid.

In the case of Rosalia Lombardo, Salafia did not limit himself to preparing the body, he paid special attention to the coffin, which is made of wood, the walls inside are lined with lead foil, the girl’s head rests on a wooden pillow. The top of the coffin is closed with double glass and sealed with wax. In this form, the baby’s body was exhibited in the chapel of Saint Rosalia, the patroness of Palermo. The burial of this girl is one of the last in the Capuchin catacombs.

Secrets of the mummy.

As with all others, there are several strange stories associated with the mummy of Rosalia Lombardo.

In two thousand and nine, traces of decomposition still appeared, so the coffin with the child was placed in a capsule with nitrogen. Rosalia herself would have been ninety years old at this time.