Mummy Museum, Ferentillo

The Ferentillo Mummy Museum is located inside the crypt of the Church of Santo Stefano.

The crypt was originally a medieval church, upon which the present Church of Santo Stefano was erected. Since then, people began burying the dead in this place until the Napoleonic Edict of Saint Claud was issued in 1804, prohibiting burials within the city walls and ordering the exhumation of burials that had previously taken place.
This is how it was discovered that the bodies that had been buried in the crypt had been perfectly preserved, mummified, thanks to the presence of special microorganisms in the soil and the temperature and humidity conditions of the place.
Today, 24 human mummies, 10 mummified heads, more than 400 skulls, a sealed coffin and two birds, mummified following experiments, are on display at the Museum.
During the latest studies of the crypt, new burials were found at the ossuary, possibly intended for unchristened people.

For information and bookings: http://www.mummiediferentillo.it/info/