Capuchin Cemetery
Detail of the Capuchin cemetery (1753).
This was the cemetery of the former Sant Antoni de Pàdua monastery of the Capuchin friars, built from the year 1753 onwards. This is the only example of an entire cemetery or desiccator to be found in Catalonia, while in Figueres there are the partial remains of another, both being connected with the Barberini monastery in Rome and the monastery in Palermo, Sicily.
It is now on the ground floor, which was formerly a
basement floor. It has eighteen vertical niches around
it, with their per forated benches, where according to
the ritual the order followed from the 16th century the
deceased friars were placed in sitting position until
their bodies had dried out. After two years, the mummies
removed from the niches were dressed in reli-gious
habits and placed in the adjacent room, where
they could be contemplated for he fraternal devotion
and reflection of the community.