"Some genealogy programs have a place to indicate the place of burial. In Termini it is possible to find the places of burials only back to about 1860. It was after that date that families began to buy burial plots. There they built below the ground level a chamber with about six or eight shelves for burying the dead. Whenever the chamber was filled, the bones were gathered together into one of the lower shelves and the process would begin over again. At ground level the plot was covered with a slab and removable cover. There the family name was inscribed and perhaps a statue or ornament of some kind placed. I was able to find four plots for the Delisi families in Termini. There are pictures of the cemetery on the web site.

Before 1860 or perhaps ever as late as 1880, it was the custom to disembowel the dead person and expose the corpse to the sun until it was dried out. The corpses were often placed on the roof of a church. I was told that this was done on the roof of Saint Anthony's Church. At the Cathedral they were placed in niches in the walls of the building. Once the corpse was dried out, it was dressed and placed in a special room, were people could then go to visit the dead. Some of the old timers have described to me their impressions as they entered into these rooms for the dead. They say the Churches had an odor all their own.

After a period of time these dried out corpses were placed in the crypts of the different churches. While in Termini I tried to get permission to look in the crypt of some of the churches, but was refused. Then I was told of the Church of Saint Ursula founded in 1580. The Church is now closed to the public, but a caretaker was able to get the keys and took me down into the crypt. My nephew, David Delisi, has the photos taken of this chamber. There were caskets set around the room. I opened one up and there was a corpse with dried skin on it and the mouth wide open. A high hat was setting next to the body. The dates on the caskets were the early 1800's. There was a chamber on the side filled with bone and a trap-door in the floor. We managed to open up the trap-door and it was filled to the top with bones that probably go back to the founding of the Church in 1580.

If you are ever in Palermo, be sure to visit the catacombs of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. I am not sure if you will want to go back for a second time.