Secrets of the mummies at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius
Anthropologist Dario Piombino-Mascali discovers lessons for modern medicine among remains of 23 preserved people
Daniel Boffey in Vilnius
Sunday 16 July 2017 08.14 EDT
Last modified on Friday 28 July 2017 11.20 EDT
The crypt under the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Vilnius has a vivid history.
The coffins hidden in the gloomy lair under the church’s altar were stripped by Napoleon’s army for wood. During the second world war, the Nazis used it as a makeshift bomb shelter. And in their time as the local overlords, the Soviets converted the crypt into a museum of atheism.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/16/mummies-church-of-the-holy-spirit-vilnius-dario-piombino-mascali
