10 Famous Preserved Corpses

If the Children of Llullaillaco creeped you out then hang on to your butt because your constitution is about to get another kicking. This might just be the saddest preserved person listed, as it's a heartbreaking story which demonstrates what grief can drive someone to do.

There are no surviving documents on Rosalia's life and death and her parentage is a matter of debate. The most common theory is that Rosalia Lombardo was a sickly Sicilian child who died at the age of only two years old in the late 1920s. Grief-stricken, her father ordered embalmer Alfredo Salafia to preserve his daughter's body.

The exact formula Salafia used is also a mystery but its results were spectacularly effective. The toddler's body has remained completely intact for nearly 100 years. In 2009 an MRI was conducted showing that, beyond some shrinkage, Lombardo's organs have also remained perfectly preserved.

Thousands of people visit the Catacombe dei Cappuccini in Sicily every year to get a glimpse of the body nicknamed 'sleeping beauty.' Some visitors have even reported that the body seemingly opens and closes its eyes, although this is due to an optical illusion created by natural light and the windows of the crypt itself. Regardless, the illusion – and the general existence of a publicly exhibited toddler corpse – is creepy as all hell.