Top of the World
At the entrance to the cemetery you will find a motto, carved on a plaque, which reads as an eternal reminder, "What we were you are, and what we are you will be."
This frightening place, for some decidedly grim and macabre, actually aims to exorcise death, emphasizing that the body is merely a container for the immortal soul and that upon the individual's death his or her limbs can be freely used for other purposes... The spooky cemetery "decorated" with the bones of more than 4,000 Capuchin friars: skulls, teeth, femurs and other bones from the ancient cemetery of the order of friars located near the Quirinal in the church of Santa Croce and Bonaventura and collected between 1528 and 1870. The Crypt of the Capuchins consists of five small chapels that preserve the bones and mummified bodies of numerous friars still wearing their typical robes.
