He was two years old and died 100 years ago: the mystery of the “most beautiful mummy in the world” who opens and closes his eyes

His second birthday was only a week away when he died of pneumonia in 1920. Today, more than a century later, Rosalia Lombardo is known as “the most beautiful mummy in the world”.

tangled in between conspiracies and strange supernatural theories, his intact body attracts thousands of visitors. Also, they say, from her glass coffin the little one he blinked at several tourists.

The story of Rosalia Lombardo

Rosalia Lombardo He was born into a wealthy and noble family in Sicily, Italy, on December 13, 1918. Shortly thereafter he contracted pneumonia and died on December 6, 1920.

Desperate for grief, his father, Mario Lombardo, tried to keep his body intact and close to youaccording to what the chronicles of the time say.

They also report that embalming was responsible Alfred Salafia. The expert implemented an innovative technique and used different products such as zinc, acid, glycerin and alcohol, ideal for preserving the skin of people like Rosalía, he pointed out. The mirror.

Once this process was completed, the girl’s body was transferred to the Children’s Chapel of Catacombs of the Capuchins of Palermo and became one of the last bodies to be received in the crypt.

The mystery of the mummy of Rosalía Lombardo

Rosalía Lombardo’s body was so well preserved that even speculation led them to say it was “a fake mummy”.

Therefore, a group of experts subjected it to rigorous testing and analysis which revealed it his organs were still intact and that his brain had shrunk to only 50% of its original sizerevealed the medium.

Apparently, out of respect, the blanket covering her was never removed, but X-rays showed it too legs and arms were intact it’s still there.

It happens that in addition to the new method used by Salafia, the Dry weather of the area of ​​Italy in which it is located and the condition of his coffin they helped the organs to be beautifully preserved.

Miracle or legend? What’s behind the blink

Until recently, many who visited the catacombs believed that Rosalía represented “the return” of Santa Rosalía to Palermo. It is that many have seen it; they even filmed it. They themselves say that when they stopped in front of Rosalía, the little girl blinked.

For them, this gesture would have been a Test that the return of the Saint, a very important figure in Palermo, could be real.

However, this theory has been well and truly debunked, as the phenomenon is simply attributed to aa light makeup. Plus, it is said to look real thanks to how well-preserved it has been, even with its blonde hair and waxed skin, she said. The mirror.

“It’s a optical illusion produced by light which filters through the side windows, which are subject to change during the day. [Sus ojos] they are not completely closed and, in fact, they never have been “, explained Dario Piombino-Mascali, curator of the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo.

The secrets of the Capuchin Catacombs

That place hosts more than 8,000 bodies, including 163 children. In January 2022 it was reported that scientists were called in to solve the mystery behind the infant mummies in Sicily.

Leading the initiative is Dr Kirsty Squires of Staffordshire University. “We will go in January to do our field work. We will take a unit of X-ray laptop and we will take it hundreds of images of children from different angles, “he said Guardian.

And he added: “We hope better understand their development, health and identitycomparing biological origins with more cultural types of things: the way individuals have been mummified and the clothes they wear. “