Rosalia Lombardo was born on December 13, 1918 in Palermo - and on December 6, 1920 she died. But this girl, who died of pneumonia, became famous only after her death. Rosalia's father, who grieved at her death, turned to the famous embalmer, Dr. Alfredo Salafia, with a request to save his daughter's body from decay. The burial of Rosalia Lombardo was one of the last in the history of the Capuchin catacombs in Palermo.
The girl's body has been resting since 1920 in a small church in Palermo. But the most surprising thing is not this at all, but the fact that after her death Rosalia … has not changed at all. Thanks to Salafia's embalming technique - or something else - her body, exhibited in a glazed coffin on a marble pedestal in the middle of the chapel of Saint Rosalia (the last point of the tourist route through the Capuchin catacombs), has survived until the 21st century almost in its original form. Rosalia's skin did not lose its natural color, the child did not seem dead, but asleep, which is why Lombardo's mummy received the nickname "Sleeping Beauty".
Some argue that there is no miracle in this at all - and the whole point is that the unique embalming technology allowed Rosalia's body to remain as it was at the time of death.
A description of the embalming procedure developed by Salafia was found in his manuscript archive by the Messina paleopathologist Dario Piombino Mascali. Salafia replaced Rosalia Lombardo's blood with a liquid composition of disinfecting formalin, alcohol that helps the body quickly dry out, glycerin, which protects the mummy from complete dehydration, antifungal salicylic acid and zinc salts, which gave the body its hardness. Formula of composition: 1 part of glycerin, 1 part of a saturated formalin solution of zinc sulfate and zinc chloride, 1 part of a saturated alcoholic solution of salicylic acid. After that, the girl's body was placed in a glass coffin.
However, modern scientists argue that neither this composition, nor the procedures performed by Salafia explain such a preservation of Rosalia's body - for 83 years, the girl's body has been so well preserved that even Rosalia's blonde hair has practically not changed. Absolutely everything - eyelashes, soft tissues of the body and even bluish eyeballs, which is almost completely impossible. This phenomenon attracts tourists from all over the world.
Since even scientists consider this an incredible miracle, all this time the body of the deceased Rosalia was under observation. Experts say that weak electrical impulses were recorded emanating from the girl's brain. The computer recorded two flashes of 33 and 12 seconds duration. This is possible only if the person is alive, similar outbreaks can be expected in a sleeping girl, but not in a dead girl.
Monks say that around a mysterious room in which a girl lies in a glass coffin, miracles are constantly happening. In particular, the key from the wooden lattice that closes the entrance disappears.
“35 years ago, the local caretaker went mad overnight,” says Father Donatello. “He claimed to have seen Rosalia open her eyes. It only lasted half a minute. After the body was examined by scientists and confirmed: something is wrong here. Locals claim to have seen trembling eyelids and there were witnesses who heard Rosalia sigh. Although, from a medical point of view, the girl is dead.
Promotional video:
The same monks claim that Rosalia's little body sometimes exudes the smell of wildflowers, lavender in particular. Neither scientists nor priests can explain these facts.
Experts say that there is a simple, completely non-mystical explanation for this. “It's just an optical illusion produced by light falling on the mummy's face at different angles at different hours,” explained catacomb caretaker Dario Piombino-Mascali.
He added that the girl's eyelids were never tightly closed, due to which the illusion of opening and closing eyes is created, depending on the angle of incidence of the sun's rays.
