I suspected that Palermo was in Italy. I was right. I had the most delicious dinner tonight, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
- Oratorio de San Lorenzo is a small Baroque church near Palermo.
- The monastic order that founded the church “looks after the unwanted dead.”
- What does this mean, looking after the unwanted dead?
- Simply put, it means that the church is filled with rotting corpses and skeletons, but that’s just the half of it.
What, are the corpses wearing clothes or something?
Yes, they are.
Let me guess, they still have their hair, too?
Funny you should say that because, yeah, some of them do.
So what are we dealing with here, rows and rows of dead people with hair and clothes?
Yep, that’s exactly what we’re dealing with here. Can I continue with the bullet points, please?
Okay, but can I see another picture, please?
Fine.
- You know the catacombs in Paris under Sacre Coeur (or is it Notre Dame?) It’s nothing like that. The bodies are intact. They come alive at night. Seriously, though, the “corpses are treated as characters in a play.”
- Standing (irl they’re hanging from hooks), sitting, you name it. These corpses do it all.
- From my understanding, the bodies are arranged by rank. Monks come first, then priests, then bishops, all wearing the appropriate attire.
- To uphold whatever “lifelike” illusion they’re trying to achieve, some of the corpses are stuffed with straw to give the corpses a rotund, healthy appearance.
Another picture? Man, I usually only post 1 – I think you’re being a bit greedy. Fine, fine. I’ll indulge your whim, your greed, if only because I couldn’t choose my favorite.
