If you love to travel, then Europe is full of fascinating places. The tourist guidebooks are full of them. But what if you want to see the unusual sites that are sometimes missed entirely from more obvious guides?
Here are some of the more unusual places to visit if you’re in Europe, sites that I have found particularly interesting for my ARKANE thriller book research.
1. Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily
Most people think of ancient Egypt when they hear the word ‘mummy’. Yet the Capuchin Monastery in Palermo has almost 8000 corpses and over 1200 mummies in its catacombs. The oldest corpse dates back to 1599!
The bodies are organized, with religious figures displayed separately from women or children. Some of the corpses are posed, while others are pinned to walls. They also vary in states of preservation.
The Catacombs were only intended to house friars but eventually wealthy locals paid to be interred. One of the last interments was a two-year-old girl in 1920. She’s so well-preserved that many call her “Sleeping Beauty”.
