Featured Image Credit: arte_tumular_br/Instagram/Fabrizio Villa - Getty Images
Topics: World News, Health
Mia Williams
Topics: World News, Health
People have been left confused by the remains of a little girl who was perfectly mummified over a century ago.
Known as the ‘Sleeping Beauty of Palermo’, it has been reported that the toddler - called Rosalia Lombardo - died just a week before her second birthday in 1920.
At her parents' request, her body was mummified by Sicilian taxidermist and embalmer, Alfredo Salafia.
To keep Rosalia's body in the best possible condition, he used chemicals such as zinc, acid and alcohol which preserve the skin.
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Tests showed that her brain was the only organ that had deteriorated in 100 years, and had reportedly shrunk by 50 percent.
The rest of Rosalia's body was completely intact in its original form, including her skeleton.
Experts say that Rosalia died of pneumonia, which she may have caught during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
According to visitors of the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo in Sicily, southern Italy, her body was laid to rest in a glass coffin, where it is showcased for people to look at.
To preserve the small body, the coffin is pumped with nitrogen gas.
Some visitors have claimed that Rosalia has blinked at them.
Talking to the Mirror, Curator of the Capuchin Catacombs where Rosalia lies, Dario Piombino-Mascali, said: "It's an optical illusion produced by the light that filters through the side windows, which during the day is subject to change.
"[Her eyes] are not completely closed, and indeed they have never been.”
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo has nearly 8,000 corpses and over 1,000 mummies, but none are as well preserved as Rosalia who still has golden hair and smooth fair skin.
Some people have previously suggested that Rosalia was actually a wax statue, but lab tests have debunked that theory.
Social media users have been left baffled at how the young girl's remains are still so perfectly preserved over a decade since her death.
One said: "It's fascinating how Rosalia Lombardo's mummification has preserved her so well over the years."
Another added: “She looks so peaceful.”
Someone else commented: “I am saddened that this beautiful little soul passed away at the little age of two.”
While another admitted: "100 years later and this breaks my heart."
And a final user wrote: “I was in the catacombs of Palermo and I saw it and it was truly incredible.
“I strongly recommend you visit it.”