La Chiesa dei Morti

La Chiesa dei Morti or Church of the Dead is rather unusual small church in the Italian town of Urbania, Marche. It is also known as the Chapel Cola. It was built in 1380. Its main attraction is Cimitero delle mummie or the Mummies Cemetery. It includes 18 mummified bodies placed in glass coffins. They have been there since 1833.

Mummified body of Vincenzo Piccini

It has to be said that those mummies were actually created several centuries before by the Brotherhood of Good Death that was formed in 1567. Their main purpose was to help the poor in their last moments in life, pay for their burial and keep the register of those died. It is interesting to say that the brotherhood mummified all kind of people. Let's mention few examples. One mummy was the woman who died while giving birth. There is also a mummy of the person who died by violent death. One of the mummies is the Prior of the brotherhood Vincenzo Piccini. He was mummified wearing black and white robe.