Author: Ethan Doyle White

In the centre of Rome is the Capuchin Crypt – officially the Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars, which is at once both shocking and fascinating. A series of small chapels beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini contain the bones and mummified remains of an estimated 4,000 individuals. Far from being a macabre spectacle, the Capuchin order believes the remains of former friars are a silent and poignant reminder of our mortality and the passage of life on Earth.