Rome, Italy – Cappuccin Crypts – Friday

Friday morning we set aside for visiting the Cappuccin Crypts. Monk bones. Thousands of them. Amazing.

The crypt is underneath a church (one of the many many churches in Rome).

We found it on this gorgeous tree-lined street. Very unassuming.

You would never know what amazing creation was in (under) this church just by walking by.

From Rick Steves:

If you want to see artistically arranged bones, this is the place. The crypt is below the church of Santa Maria della Immacolata Concesione. … The bones of more than 4,000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870 are in the basement, all lined up for the delight – or disgust – of the always-wide-eyed visitor. The soil in the crypt was brought from Jerusalem 400 years ago, and the monastic message on the wall explains that this is more than just a macabre excercise: ‘We were once what you are … you will become what we are now.’”

{Images OF the actual bones are scanned from postcards we purchased. There was no photography allowed inside, and I wasn’t feeling brave enough to try to be stealthy}

Here’s the way it’s set up (so you know what to expect when you go. And you should go.):

You walk in, and on your left is a cute Italian woman helping all the tourists. On your right is a hallway. Directly in front of you is a little gift shop. About the size of … a kitchen. Small.

The cute Italian woman tells you what’s up. I mean, she welcomes you, and asks you if you’ve been here before and asks if you speak Italian. We said, “No.” …. She then proceeded to give us all the directions in Italian (cost, no camera, etc). … Surprisingly we basically understood it. She seemed so proud of us! It was almost like she wanted to prove to us that we’re smarter than we think.

It was pretty cute.

Anyway – the crypt itself is a series of small rooms, all off of the same hallway. No doors, but rather open archways looking into the rooms.

The last image below is of the hallway.

This pic is of the ceiling in one of the rooms …

(we bought a little pocket guide to the crypt. Explaining the layout and the bones and the intent. Pretty cool).