In 1534, the Capuchin Friars, settled in the church of Santa Maria della Pace and in translating the bodies of their brothers from the tank in the southern part of the underground church to the cemetery behind the altar, they realized that they were intact, so it was decided that not to bury them, but to hang in the niches. For nearly three centuries the nobles entrusted to the Capuchins in Palermo the bodies of their dead, in fact, more than 8000 mummies are enclosed within the catacombs for each sector, the women, men, children, professionals, craftsmen, etc.. The practice began to apply the Capuchins, was to deprive the bodies of internal organs, and place them in a closed room the "gully" for several months, after which they were washed with vinegar and left to dry before being exposed to the walls or in the niches of the convent. Often in times of epidemic, were used lime or arsenic chemicals and only then, that precisely the method used by Professor Salafia Ignazia for the embalming of the little Rosalia Lombardo of just two years at the foot of the altar of Santa Rosalia, still the subject of studies in an attempt to unravel the secrets of what is considered among the best in the world embalming.