Museo delle Mummie di Venzone

In the circular thirteenth-century chapel of San Michele beside Venzone's cathedral, five naturally mummified bodies are preserved in a semi-underground crypt. The mummies date from 1348 to 1881 and were preserved through a natural process associated with the mould Hypha bombicina.

Why it matters

The mummification was not the result of embalming. In some tombs around the cathedral, Hypha bombicina Pers. dehydrated tissue and slowed decomposition, naturally preserving the bodies. The oldest mummy, known as “il Gobbo,” was discovered in 1647. By the nineteenth century, the chapel had become known as a museum of mummies, linking local burial practices with the study of natural preservation.

What to notice

The chapel is a small circular structure of squared stone above the crypt. It was built in the mid-thirteenth century and may initially have served as a baptistery. The five bodies in the crypt date from 1348 to 1881; most are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the earthquake of 6 May 1976, fifteen of the twenty-one mummies then held in the chapel were recovered from its ruins, including the five now preserved there.

Context and history

The first mummy came to light in 1647 when a fourteenth-century sarcophagus was moved during work at the cathedral. Between 1825 and 1891, around forty mummies were removed from tombs in the area, and some were sent to collections in Padua, Vienna and Paris. The chapel was described as a museum of mummies by 1842, and in 1845 the bodies were moved from the cathedral crypt to the upper chapel. The 1976 earthquake destroyed the building; the chapel and crypt were later rebuilt.