Roman Catacombs

Hallway of Bones

This weekend I visited the Roman Catacombs of the Capuchin monks.  These catacombs had four rooms, each wall completely covered in bones of monks.  Each room had a different specialty-- one would be covered completely in skulls while the next was covered completely in pelvic bones.  The ceilings were covered with elaborate designs made out of vertebrae.  Lanterns hung in the hallways made entirely of bone.  In one room, two perfectly preserved arms made an X in the center of the wall.  Each room was not complete without the mummified body of at least one monk... and on some, I could even see their faces!  This had to be one of the creepiest yet coolest experience I've had thus far.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what I saw.

Mummified monks surrounded by skulls

Mummified arms and room of skulls

Vertebrae decoration on the ceiling