Instead, their skeletons adorn the walls and ceilings ... to make people comfortable with mortality. Other Capuchin crypts, Palermo, Italy, and in Vienna, serve the same purpose.

The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo houses a macabre collection of 1,100 mummies dating back hundreds of years. The mummies are dressed in robes and pinned to the walls, sitting on benches or lying ...