What a frightful site

Whilst working on my dissertation a memory arose. There was this fascinating place I visited in Rome (I think in 2006) called the Capuchin Crypt. It was one of the most morbidly fascinating places I have ever been to. The walls were elegantly decorated with bones belonging to friars (and other people who were moved from a mass grave) as well as friars who were not yet quite just bone. These friars were standing (with aid) or laying upon a mass neat pile of bones whilst their skin remained in a state of decay. I predominately remember one friar who lay upon a pile of bones, whose hood of his robe covered his eyes, but his jaw had slid open and to the side as if in an awkward scream. It was horrifying, but not enough to put me off to see the rest of the Crypt. At the end however was a sign that read “As you are, we once were. As we are, you will someday be." Enough to send shivers down anyones spine. I shortly left, particularly when I found out the place was rumored to be haunted. 


A place that is defiantly worth a visit, and one I would re-visit. 




Photograph taken from Google.