The Living Dead: Inside the Palermo Crypt
Of all the wonderful sights on view in Sicily, surely one of the  most unusual and provocative is found in the hillside crypt  above Palermo, the island's capital city. Within these vast  corridors beneath a cappuccine church are thousands of niches  holding mummified corpses. Because the ground was so rocky and  resources scarce, it became fashionable over hundreds of years  to place one's loved ones in among the cool, dry stone perches  here. Tourists now visit the remains of a multitude of clerics,  nobility, and families of local citizens dating from about the  mid-16th century to the end of the practice around a century  ago. The denizens of this awesome and mysterious place have been  respectfully and beautifully photographed by the Florentine  Lanza. Lanza makes art out of the slowly rotting figures,  focusing on the detail of skull and bone and of the now-antique  clothing that was stylish when these faithful were laid to rest.  Facchi, a journalist and screenwriter who regularly contributes  to Marie Claire and Il Dario della Settimana, adds her darkly  imaginative narrative essay on the history of the customs and  folklore surrounding this unusual celebration of death. With its  large format, the book begs to be displayed, but beware, the  images can be haunting (even gruesome) and as unforgettable as  the place itself. For serious photography and history  collections. David Nudo, New YorkCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.