The Mummy Museum

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

The crypt was originally a mediaeval church, where the Church of Santo Stefano was erected; from that moment onwards, the dead were buried there 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.

That is how the bodies that had been buried in the crypt were discovered, perfectly preserved, mummified thanks to the presence of special micro-organisms in the soil and the temperature and humid conditions of the place.

As a result of experiments, today 24 human mummies, 10 mummified heads, more than 400 skulls, a sealed coffin and two mummified birds are on display at the Museum. 

During the latest studies of the crypt, new burials were found at the ossuary, possibly intended for  unbaptized people.