engleski

Mummies from northwestern Croatia

The region of the Northwestern Croatia includes the Istrian peninsula, the Kvarner coast with islands and the mountain region of Gorski kotar. In this region, there are few examples of well preserved mummified bodies, all belonging to Saints dating from the 4th to the 16th century. The mummified bodies are all concentrated in the territory near Italian border – in the Istrian village of Vodnjan and in the city of Rijeka. Vodnjan's church of Saint Blaise beside a great number of relics (270 in total belonging to over 250 Saints) proudly displays six mummified bodies. Three of them are integrally conserved and belong to St. Leon Bembo (died in 1188.), St. Giovanni Olini (died in 1300.) and St. Nicolosa Bursa (died in 1512.), while the other three are incomplete mummified remains of St. Barbara, St. Sebastian and St. Mary of Egypt. In Rijeka, in the church of st. Sebastian and Fabian one mummified body is conserved, that of St. Marcian dating back from the 4th century. All the bodies have been transferred from Italy where mummification was quite popular and frequent during history – today resulting in thousands of mummified bodies dissipated all over the Italian territory. The mummies of Vodnjan were brought from Venice by the artist Gaetano Gresler in the 1818 while the body of St. Marcian was donated to Rijeka in the 1662 by the Pope Alexander VII (from the Roman catacombs of St. Calisto). Till present day, there was no scientific research performed about mummies from Northwest Croatia. Although the local population attribute to them a divine character and treats their preservation still as a mystery, their origin is probably analogous to that of the other mummified Italian corpses. The scientific study of these mummies will not only reveal the real nature of the bodies, but also point out differences in the methods of mummification used on them. The wide time period covered by the mummies (from the 4th to the 16th century) can be useful for discovering historical variations in artificial mummification techniques used through history. Additional paleopathologic researches could also determine the cause of decease of the Saints died by natural causes (St. Lion Bembo, St. Nicolosa Bursa, St. Giovanni Olini), attest any mutilation or sign of the tortures suffered by the Saints through their life (St. Lion Bembo, St. Barbara) and confirm them as the cause of the Saints’ death (St. Sebastian, St. Marcian).

mummies; saints; northwestern Croatia

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