Mummies of Guanajuato: the sad story of the cholera epidemic in Mexico. Guanajuato Mummies Museum: Naturally Preserved Bodies (Mexico) Seti I - Egyptian Pharaoh in the Tomb

You've probably all watched horror films about revived mummies attacking people. These sinister dead have always captured the human imagination. However, in reality, mummies do not carry anything terrible, representing incredible archaeological value. In this issue you will find 13 real mummies that have survived to this day and are among the most significant archaeological finds of our time.

A mummy is a specially processed chemical the body of a dead creature in which the process of tissue decomposition slows down. Mummies are stored for hundreds and even thousands of years, becoming a “window” into the ancient world. On the one hand, mummies look creepy; some people get goosebumps just looking at these wrinkled bodies, but on the other hand, they represent an incredible historical value, keeping inside interesting information about life ancient world, customs, health and diet of our ancestors.

1. Screaming mummy from the Guanajuato Museum

The Guanajuato Mummies Museum in Mexico is one of the strangest and most terrible in the world, with 111 mummies collected here, which represent naturally preserved mummified bodies of people, most of whom died in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century and were buried in the local cemetery "Pantheon of St. Paula".

The museum's exhibits were exhumed between 1865 and 1958, when a law was in force requiring relatives to pay a tax to have the bodies of their loved ones in the cemetery. If the tax was not paid on time, the relatives lost the right to the burial site and the dead bodies were removed from the stone tombs. As it turned out, some of them were naturally mummified, and they were kept in a special building at the cemetery. Distorted facial expressions on some mummies indicate they were buried alive.

IN late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, these mummies began to attract tourists, and cemetery workers began to charge a fee for visiting the premises where they were kept. The official date of establishment of the Museum of Mummies in Guanajuato is 1969, when mummies were exhibited in glass shelves. Now the museum is visited annually by hundreds of thousands of tourists.

2. Mummy of a boy from Greenland (Kilakitsoq town)

Near the Greenlandic settlement of Kilakitsoq, located on west bank himself big island in the world, in 1972, an entire family was discovered mummified by low temperatures. Nine perfectly preserved bodies of the ancestors of the Eskimos, who died in Greenland at a time when the Middle Ages reigned in Europe, aroused keen interest of scientists, but one of them became famous throughout the world and beyond the scientific framework.

Belonging to a one-year-old child (as anthropologists found, who suffered from Down syndrome), it, more like some kind of doll, makes an indelible impression on visitors National Museum Greenland in Nuuk.

3. Two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo

The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Italy, is an eerie place, a necropolis that attracts tourists from all over the world with many mummified bodies in varying states of preservation. But the symbol of this place is the baby face of Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl who died of pneumonia in 1920. Her father, unable to cope with grief, turned to the famous physician Alfredo Salafia with a request to preserve his daughter’s body.

Now it makes the hair on the head of all visitors to the dungeons of Palermo, without exception, move - amazingly preserved, peaceful and so alive that it seems as if Rosalia only dozed off briefly, it makes an indelible impression.

4. Juanita from the Peruvian Andes

Either still a girl, or already a girl (the age of death is said to be from 11 to 15 years), named Juanita, gained worldwide fame, being included in the ranking of the best scientific discoveries according to Time magazine due to its safety and creepy story, which scientists told after the discovery of a mummy in an ancient Inca settlement in the Peruvian Andes in 1995. Sacrificed to the gods in the 15th century, it has survived to this day in almost perfect condition thanks to the ice of the Andean peaks.

As part of the exhibition of the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries in the city of Arequipa, the mummy often goes on tour, exhibited, for example, at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington or at many venues in the Land of the Rising Sun, generally different strange love to mummified bodies.

5. Knight Christian Friedrich von Kahlbutz, Germany

This German knight lived from 1651 to 1702. After his death, his body turned into a mummy naturally and is now on display for everyone to see.

According to legend, the knight Kalbutz was a great fan of taking advantage of the “right of the first night.” The loving Christian had 11 of his own children and about three dozen bastards. In July 1690, he declared his “right of the first night” regarding the young bride of a shepherd from the town of Buckwitz, but the girl refused him, after which the knight killed her newly-made husband. Taken into custody, he swore before the judges that he was not guilty, otherwise“After death, his body will not crumble into dust.”

Since Kalbutz was an aristocrat, his word of honor was enough to get him acquitted and released. The knight died in 1702 at the age of 52 and was buried in the von Kalbutze family tomb. In 1783 last representative of this dynasty died, and in 1794 a restoration was started in the local church, during which the tomb was opened in order to rebury all the dead of the von Kalbutz family in a regular cemetery. It turned out that all of them, except Christian Friedrich, had decayed. The latter turned into a mummy, which proved the fact that the loving knight was still an oathbreaker.

6. Mummy of the Egyptian pharaoh - Ramses the Great

The mummy shown in the photo belongs to Pharaoh Ramses II (Ramses the Great), who died in 1213 BC. e. and is one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. It is believed that he was the ruler of Egypt during the campaign of Moses. One of distinctive features This mummy is the presence of red hair, symbolizing the connection with the god Set - the patron of royal power.

In 1974, Egyptologists discovered that the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II was rapidly deteriorating. It was decided to immediately fly it to France for examination and restoration, for which the mummies were issued a modern Egyptian passport, and in the “occupation” column they wrote “king (deceased).” At the Paris airport, the mummy was greeted with all the military honors due to the visit of the head of state.

7. Mummy of a girl 18-19 years old from the Danish city of Skrydstrup

Mummy of a girl aged 18-19, buried in Denmark in 1300 BC. e. The deceased was a tall, slender girl with long blond hair styled in an intricate updo, somewhat reminiscent of a 1960s babette. Her expensive clothes and jewelry suggest that she belonged to a family of the local elite.

The girl was buried in an oak coffin lined with herbs, so her body and clothes were surprisingly well preserved. The preservation would have been even better if the layer of soil above the grave had not been damaged several years before this mummy was discovered.

Similaun Man, who was about 5,300 years old at the time of his discovery, making him the oldest European mummy, was given the nickname Ötzi by scientists. Discovered on September 19, 1991 by a couple of German tourists while walking in the Tyrolean Alps, who came across the perfectly preserved remains of an inhabitant of the Chalcolithic era thanks to natural ice mummification, it created a real sensation in the scientific world - nowhere in Europe have the bodies of our distant people been found perfectly preserved to this day ancestors

Now this tattooed mummy can be seen in the archaeological museum of Bolzano, Italy. Like many other mummies, Ötzi is allegedly shrouded in a curse: over the course of several years, under various circumstances, several people died, one way or another connected with the study of the Iceman.

The Girl from Yde (Dutch: Meisje van Yde) is the name given to the well-preserved body of a teenage girl discovered in a peat bog near the village of Yde in the Netherlands. This mummy was found on May 12, 1897. The body was wrapped in a woolen cape.

A woven wool noose was tied around the girl’s neck, indicating that she had been executed for some crime or had been sacrificed. There is a trace of a wound in the collarbone area. The skin was not affected by decomposition, which is typical for swamp bodies.

The results of radiocarbon dating carried out in 1992 showed that she died at about 16 years of age between 54 BC. e. and 128 AD e. The corpse's head was half shaved shortly before death. The preserved hair is long and has a reddish tint. But it should be noted that the hair of all corpses that fall into a swampy environment acquires a reddish color as a result of denaturalization of the coloring pigment under the influence of acids found in the swampy soil.

A computed tomography scan determined that during her lifetime she had a curvature of the spine. Further research led to the conclusion that the cause of this was most likely damage to the vertebrae by bone tuberculosis.

10. The Man from the Rendsvüren Mire

Rendswühren Man, who also belongs to the so-called swamp people, was found near the German city of Kiel in 1871. At the time of death, the man was between 40 and 50 years old, and examinations of the body showed that he died from a blow to the head.

11. Networks I - egyptian pharaoh in the tomb

The superbly preserved mummy of Seti I and the remains of the original wooden coffin were discovered in the Deir el-Bahri cache in 1881. Seti I ruled Egypt from 1290 to 1279. BC e. The mummy of this pharaoh was buried in a specially prepared tomb.

The network is minor character science fiction films "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns", where he is depicted as a pharaoh who fell victim to the conspiracy of his high priest Imhotep.

12. Mummy of Princess Ukok

The mummy of this woman, nicknamed the Altai Princess, was found by archaeologists in 1993 on the Ukok plateau and is one of the most significant discoveries in archeology of the late 20th century. Researchers believe that the burial was made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC and dates back to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai.

During the excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried woman was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman’s mummy is well preserved. The burial was walled up in a layer of ice. This aroused great interest among archaeologists, since very ancient things could be well preserved in such conditions. In the chamber they found six horses with saddles and harnesses, as well as a wooden larch block nailed with bronze nails. The contents of the burial clearly indicated the nobility of the buried person.

The mummy lay on its side with its legs slightly pulled up. She had numerous tattoos on her arms. The mummies were wearing a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt socks, a fur coat and a wig. All these clothes were made of very high quality and indicate the high status of the buried. She died in at a young age(about 25 years old) and belonged to the elite of Pazyryk society.

13. Ice maiden from the Inca tribe

This famous mummy a girl aged 14-15 who was sacrificed by the Incas more than 500 years ago. It was discovered in 1999 on the slope of the Nevado Sabancaya volcano. Next to this mummy, several more children's bodies were discovered, also mummified. Researchers suggest that these children were chosen among others due to their beauty, after which they walked many hundreds of kilometers across the country, were specially prepared and sacrificed to the gods at the top of the volcano.

A mummy is the body of a living creature specially treated with a chemical substance, in which the process of tissue decomposition is slowed down. Mummies are stored for hundreds and even thousands of years, carrying the history of our ancestors, their customs and appearance. On the one hand, mummies look terribly scary, sometimes goosebumps run through the skin from one glance, on the other hand, they keep within themselves most interesting story ancient world. We have compiled a list of the 13 most creepy and at the same time most interesting mummies ever discovered in the world:

13. Guanajuato Mummies Museum, Mexico

The Guanajuato Mummies Museum in Mexico is one of the strangest and most gruesome in the world, housing some 111 mummies (59 of which are on display) that died between 1850 and 1950. Distorted facial expressions on some mummies indicate they were buried alive. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the museum every year.

12. Baby mummy in Qilakitsoq, Greenland

Another example of a living burial - the photo shows a 6-month-old boy found in Greenland. Three more mummies of women were found nearby, perhaps one of them was the boy’s mother, with whom he was buried alive (according to Eskimo customs of that time). The mummies date back to 1460. Thanks to the icy climate of Greenland, clothing from that time was well preserved. A total of 78 pieces of clothing made from animal skins, such as seals and deer, were found. The adults had small tattoos on their faces, but the child's face was simply terrifying!

11. Rosalia Lombardo, Italy

Little Rosalia was only 2 years old when she died of pneumonia in 1920 in Palermo (Sicily). The saddened father commissioned the famous embalmer Alfred Salafia to mummify the body of Rosalia Lombardo.

10. Mummy with painted face, Egypt

When we think about mummies, the first thing that comes to mind is Egypt. Many films have been made featuring these preserved corpses, which, wrapped in bandages, come back to life to attack civilians. The photo shows one of the typical representatives of mummies (the exhibit is on display at the British Museum).

9. Christian Friedrich von Kalbutz, Germany

The photo shows the German knight Christian; an aura of mystery surrounds this scary look of the mummy.

8. Ramses II, Egypt

The mummy shown in the photo belongs to Pharaoh Ramses II (Ramses the Great), who died in 1213 BC. and is one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. He is believed to have been the ruler of Egypt during the campaign of Moses and is represented as such in many works of fiction. One of the distinctive features of the mummy is the presence of red hair, symbolizing the connection with the god Set, the patron of royal power.

7. Woman of Skrydstrup, Denmark

Mummy of a woman, 18-19 years old, buried in Denmark in 1300 BC. Her clothing and jewelry suggest that she belonged to the chief's family. The girl was buried in an oak coffin, so her body and clothes were surprisingly well preserved.

6. Ginger, Egypt

The Ginger “Ginger” mummy is an Egyptian mummy of an adult male who died over 5,000 years ago and was buried in sand in the desert (at that time the Egyptians had not yet begun mummifying corpses).

5. Gullah Man, Ireland

This strange looking The mummy, known as Gallagh Man, was discovered in a bog in Ireland in 1821. A man was buried in a swamp wearing a cloak with a fragment of a willow branch around his neck. Some researchers believe he may have been strangled.

4. Man Rendswüren, Germany

The Rendswühren bog man, like the bog man Gallach, was found in a bog, this time in Germany in 1871. The man was 40-50 years old, it is believed that he was beaten to death, the body was found in the 19th century.

3. Seti I – pharaoh of ancient Egypt

Seti I ruled 1290-1279 BC. The pharaoh's mummy was buried in an Egyptian tomb. The Egyptians were skilled embalmers, which is why we can see them at work in modern times.

2. Princess Ukok, Altai

a burial tax was introduced. This meant that dead citizens were buried in local cemeteries not for thanks, but on the condition of a paid extension of their grave site. Since the dead themselves, for obvious reasons, cannot pay for themselves, their relatives had to do this. If the relatives did not have the opportunity or desire to pay, and in some cases, in fact, the relatives themselves were not found, then the body of the deceased was exhumed. Imagine the surprise of the cemetery workers when, instead of a pile of bones, they had to remove from the graves almost brand new dead people, many of whom still had hair, teeth, nails and even clothes! Amazing fact an explanation was quickly found: it turned out that the unique composition of the soil and climate Guanajuato promotes the natural process of mummification of bodies buried here. And no mysticism.

The law obliging relatives to pay cemetery tax was in force from 1865 to 1958, and it was during this time that the “fund” of the future museum was formed: 111 mummies, buried during the period 1850-1950(according to some information, citizens who died during the cholera epidemic in 1833). The mummified dead were kept in a room at the cemetery, which gradually began to attract tourists who wanted to visit it for a few pesos. That's how this one appeared, one of the most terrible in the world, museum.

Now on display in the museum 59 mummies, several of which are mummies of children(at this point, think again about whether you want to scroll down). Some of them are equipped with signs on which it is written in the first person: I am such and such, I gave my soul to God at such and such a time, my hulled earthly shell was extracted from the damp earth at such and such a time.

A visit to the museum begins with a corridor of mummies, behind the glass of which stand almost identical, unremarkable dead bodies. All of them have preserved skin, which, of course, cannot be called soft and silky, but still; some comrades stand with their hair and legs up, and the one on the far right flaunts codpieces and boots, in which, obviously, he was sent to a better world.

Then there are much more interesting characters. For example, this is the best-preserved specimen in a leather jacket. If not for some inconsistencies in his years, one would think that during his lifetime the guy was a rocker.

We go further and see no less interesting exhibits: one of the dead is comfortably seated in a coffin, someone attracts attention with a remarkably preserved toilet, and one of the deceased entices museum visitors with her almost waist-length scythe.

Next, go to the gallery with the name Angelitos, in which, as you might guess, are stored baby mummies. According to local tradition, deceased children were dressed up in festive clothes - boys in costumes of saints, girls in costumes of angels, believing that this way their sinless souls would go to heaven faster.

But what shocked me much more were the photographs on the walls of this room, telling about the tradition that existed at that time - to take photographs as a souvenir with already dead babies. I immediately remembered an episode from my favorite horror movie “The Others”, where the same thing was supposed to be done with dead people of any age. It's creepy, in general.

In the next room is the mummy of a woman who died in late pregnancy, and her unborn child -smallest mummy in the world.

The next room with mummies of people produces quite a peculiar impression.those who died a death other than their own. Here, for example, is an exhibition of a person buried alive (left), a drowned person (middle) and someone who died from a traumatic brain injury (right). With the third, everything is clear, but how the other two comrades, who were subsequently mummified, died is revealed by their extremely unnatural poses. The mummy on the left is a woman who fell into a lethargic sleep and was buried by mistake, the position of whose hands indicates an attempt to get out of such an unfortunate situation for her. From the pose of the drowned man one can judge that in the last seconds of his life he was severely short of air.

Two of the victims still had their shoes. But what are their shoes compared to these exquisite examples of the shoe industry of that time?!

Many of you will probably want to ask:Was it scary to walk around the museum?I answer - it’s not scary. There were times when I was completely alone among the living in some hall: my husband, having barely crossed the threshold, galloped away from the museum, and there were so few other visitors that we did not interfere with each other at all. I felt absolutely calm, and only one single thought haunted me from beginning to end:and THIS is how it will all end.Maybe it sounds loud, but from a museumof deathI left with slightly changed views onlife.

Surely many of you who read this post will think thatMexicanscrazy. Anticipating your surprise, indignation, perhaps even indignation, I cannot help but put in a good word for them. The fact is thatMexicansin general, they have a rather peculiar attitude towards death: they perceive it not just calmly, but, one might say, optimistically. What for us, people of another culture, is absurd and even shocking, forMexicans- a natural part of their life. The tradition of not being afraid, but even “making friends” with death goes back to the beliefs of their ancestors. The ancient Indians believed that death is the beginning of something greater, and it is much more important than life. INMexicoeven there is a corresponding holiday -The day of the Dead, when they pay tribute to death and even flirt with it a little. If you try to look at things through the eyes of a Mexican, then even this museum doesn’t look so terrible.

They are very popular among tourists. Sunny beaches, ancient cities that still remember the conquistadors, amazing nature, colorful customs of the local population and, of course, archaeological museums under open air with the unique architecture of Mesoamerica - all this awaits those who come to the warm country.

Cities

A trip to Mexico is worth making in order to see first-hand the incredible power and greatness of civilizations, the memory of which is still preserved by the ancient stones of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. Mexican cities such as Mexico City and Cancun - shining example how amazingly the history and culture of different civilizations and peoples are intertwined.

Eternally young Acapulco will swirl in a whirlwind of entertainment and amaze you with daredevils who, in La Quebrada Bay, plunge into the waves of the Pacific Ocean from a height of 35 meters. Mexico's old cities such as Guadalajara and Tequila have distinctive features The Spanish colonial era is not only in architecture. There is still a bullring there, where exciting performances are held, but the Tequila Museum is of particular interest to tourists.

Gorgeous white sand beaches and ocean depths promise heavenly pleasure. In this regard, it is worth mentioning beach tours to Mexico. The Riviera Maya resort will not leave indifferent even the most discerning public, with its excellent service and comfortable hotels, from the doors of which you can get directly to the beach. Nature and architecture of amazing beauty will leave unforgettable memories.

Description

The city of Guanajuato deserves special attention; its extraordinary beauty and attractions amaze even seasoned tourists. It was founded in the sixteenth century by Spanish colonialists, who discovered deposits rich in silver there. This is how the history of the city began, the first mining settlements arose, and later the settlement of Santa Fe was built. The eighteenth century brought prosperity to the city; it was at this time that new, richest silver veins were discovered. The owners of deposits and mines began active development, and money flowed like a river into the treasury of the Spanish crown. The newly created Spanish nobility did not skimp on the construction of palaces, churches and temples in the city of Guanajuato. Mexico became their second home. They even called it New Spain.

The beautiful Baroque temples of La Compaña and San Cayetano de La Valenciana are without a doubt the architectural masterpieces of colonial Mexico. Over time, silver deposits became depleted, and silver mining ceased to be a priority sector of the city’s economy. But tourism and education have become the main directions, and the city is also the capital of the state of the same name. Guanajuato (state) has a developed economy, which is based on the mining of gold, silver, fluorine and quartz. The petrochemical industry and enterprises are well developed Food Industry and pharmaceuticals.

Name and national component

The history of the name of the city of Guanajuato is quite interesting. Mexico was then inhabited by indigenous peoples: the Purepecha was one of them, and the city owes its name to them. "Quanaxhuato" means mountainous habitat of frogs. Today, the national component consists of jonas, mestizos and whites.

Mine

The historical part of the city is located in a winding gorge. Development took place along the spurs and slopes, and on the outskirts in the Santa Rosa Mountains are the famous mine and the village of La Valenciana. The mine still operates to this day, but despite this, it accepts excursion groups. For a small fee you can go down 60 meters and get an idea of ​​the hard work of a miner.

Narrow streets

The narrow streets often turn into steps and climb high up the slope, so traveling by car would be quite difficult if there were only a few tunnels and underground roads. Probably one of the most popular narrow streets is Kisses Lane. Urban legend says that quite wealthy people once lived on this street; their daughter fell in love with a simple worker at a local mine. The lovers, of course, were forbidden to meet, but the resourceful guy rented a room with a balcony in the house opposite. And thanks to the narrow alley, the lovers, each standing on their own balcony, could exchange kisses.

The Basilica of Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato, certainly one of the city's most important attractions, is located in the city center on PlazadelaPaz, which translates to Plaza of the World.

No less attractive tourist attractions are the Juarez Theater, designed in a neoclassical style, the Alhondiga de Granaditas building and the Old Town Hall.

City of Guanajuato (Mexico) - birthplace famous artist His native home now serves as a museum. The panorama of the city from a bird's eye view is delightful; the view opens from the San Miguel hill, on the top of which there is a monument in honor of the rebel Pipila.

Mummy Museum

An interesting and at the same time creepy place is the Museum of Mummies. The history of its formation goes back to the distant 1870. Then a law was introduced on the payment of a tax for eternal burial. If the relatives of the deceased were unable to pay the taxes, the buried remains were dug up and sent for public display to a building near the cemetery. Most of the remains belong to ordinary people, workers and members of their families. Anyone could enter the vault and look at the mummies for a fee. In 1958 the law was repealed, and in 1970 it was built new museum, and all mummies are now kept under glass.

The viewing took place by candlelight; visitors often tore off pieces from the exhibits, leaving them as souvenirs. In total, the museum's collection includes 111 mummies of people who died between 1850 and 1950. The eerie exhibition is accompanied by inscriptions on tablets in the form of a presentation, the story is told in the first person and tells the sad story of mummies removed from their graves and exhibited in the museum. It is characteristic that all bodies are mummified naturally. There are several versions of this phenomenon. But scientists consider the most likely influence of climate; thanks to the hot and dry air, the bodies dried out and mummified quite quickly.

Monuments to Miguel Cervantes

The city's residents have quite a interesting feature: They adore the work of Miguel Cervantes. At least myself famous author“Don Quixote” never visited Guanajuato, but this did not stop the city’s residents from erecting many monuments dedicated to his work and organizing the Cervantino Festival in honor of their beloved writer. This event was held for the first time in 1972.

Since then it has been held annually. The festival is one of the most significant cultural events Mexico. Guanajuato turns into a big city during Cervantino theater stage, artists surprise and delight residents and guests of the city with their creativity, and music and singing coming from all sides create a feeling of general rejoicing.

Guanajuato can also be proud of its university, not only in architectural terms, although the new monumental building adds authority to the city's panorama, but also in its students. There are a lot of them here, so it seems that the city’s residents are forever young. The sounds of music and laughter come from all sides; countless bars and discos in the city always welcome their tireless visitors.

Conclusion

The beautiful and contrasting city of Guanajuato. Mexico never ceases to amaze with its contradictions. On the one hand, almost the entire population of the country is zealous Catholics, regularly visiting churches and honoring Christian saints, on the other hand, they celebrate the Day of the Dead magnificently, dressing in creepy costumes symbolizing Death.

Guanajuato, striking with the beauty of its architecture, the colorfulness of its houses and the cheerful disposition of its inhabitants, evokes, on the one hand, the warmest feelings, but plunges you into horror with the history of the emergence of the Museum of Mummies.

Avid travelers say that you need to feel Guanajuata, and then it will be simply impossible not to fall in love with it. And Mexico itself receives the most flattering reviews from tourists; no one is indifferent. Everyone takes with them a piece of her big soul, seething with passions.

A museum can be found in almost every city. Museums often display works of art, works famous masters And so on. But some museums contain completely different exhibits. Looking at them, a person experiences horror, interest and a craving for the supernatural. One of these institutions is the museum screaming mummies, located in the small Mexican town of Guanajuato.

Guanajuato is located in the central part of Mexico, 350 kilometers from the capital. In the sixteenth century, the Spaniards conquered these lands from the Aztecs, after which they founded Fort Santa Fe. This land attracted the Spaniards because it was home to valuable mines in which tons of gold and silver could be mined.

History of the city of Guanajuato

The Aztecs called the area described above Cuanas Huato, which translated means “the place where frogs live among the hills.” When the Spaniards conquered the lands, they renamed them and began to mine gold for the king. In the eighteenth century, the precious mines were almost completely depleted. Gold miners turned their attention to silver, of which there was still a lot left in the mines. For several centuries, the Spanish town was considered the richest and most profitable. It was decorated in every possible way with architecture, which partially survives to this day.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Mexico gained independence, thanks to which ordinary peasants were able to get rid of colonial status. Since then, a lot has changed: the government established new orders, carried out reforms, and so on. Only one thing has remained unchanged: the desire of the rich to increase their income. Taxes increased continuously. Since 1865, even places in the cemetery became paid, which was especially dissatisfied ordinary people. Now, if they did not pay for a place in the cemetery, after five years the body of the deceased was exhumed and transferred to the basement. If the relatives managed to pay off the huge debt, the body was returned to the grave.

The victims of the new law are the lonely dead

The bodies of the dead, who simply had no relatives, were the first to suffer. The second to suffer were those whose relatives could not pay the huge payment by the standards of that time. At first, the bones of those exhumed lay peacefully in the basements. Then the enterprising owners of the cemetery decided to turn the basements into “museums”, after visiting which one could “enjoy” the most terrible exhibits. Since 1969, terrible exhibits began to be shown openly to eyewitnesses, without hiding from law enforcement agencies. The basements were combined into a single museum, which received official status.

Creepy remains of unfortunate people

The number of bodies that had to be exhumed was incredibly huge. Not all of those “expelled from the cemetery” were transferred to the museum. Only the most terrible bodies were selected there, those that could attract attention and at the same time shock wealthy visitors. Only those corpses that did not decompose during their stay in the grave, but naturally turned into mummies, were placed behind the glass of the museum. It should be noted that in Mexico they did not specifically embalm the dead, since this was a costly matter and incorrect from a religious point of view.

The most famous “screaming” exhibits

The first and most famous exhibit creepy museum is the body of Doctor Remigo Leroy, who during his lifetime was quite wealthy. Unfortunately, he had no relatives left who could pay for a place in the cemetery, so he was exhumed, despite financial condition. Leroy was dug up in 1865. The body was initially designated as “storage unit No. 214.”

In the exhibit described above you can see the suit in relatively good condition. It is made of expensive fabric, which is why it has been preserved for so long. Most of the “flashy” exhibits do not have clothing, as it simply rotted in its time. Museum workers confiscated some of the clothes, commenting that they smelled too much of death. The disgusting aroma could not be overcome by chemicals.

The people whose remains can now be seen in the museum in Guanajuato died for various reasons. Some were killed by the cholera epidemic in 1833, others died from occupational diseases of miners. In addition, it contains the remains of those who died a natural death from old age. The most interesting thing is that there are much more women in this museum than men. In those days, the fair sex had a more difficult life.

Scientists were unable to identify all the remains, but they did identify some. For example, the remains of Ignacia Aguilar. During her lifetime, this woman was a decent mother, a good wife and housewife. When her body was exhumed, they were very frightened, as she was lying in a strange position: her hands were pressed to her face, and her clothes were pulled up. Researchers suggested that she was buried alive, confusing death with lethargic sleep. Blood clots were found in Ignacia's mouth. Most likely, she woke up already in the coffin, tried to get out, and when she realized that it was useless, in panic and from lack of air, she tore her mouth with her hands.

No less sad was the fate of another interesting exhibit, also a woman who was strangled. There were fragments of a rope around her neck, which was not even removed from her during the funeral. Museum workers say that at the other end of the room there is the severed head of her husband, who turned out to be a murderer, for which he was executed.

It should be noted that open mouths, supposedly screaming, are not always a sign of death in terrible agony. Even a calmly deceased person can get such a terrifying facial expression if his jaw is poorly tied.