Amazing new photos show extremely well-preserved “natural mummies” housed in a Colombian mausoleum, believed to date back only about 100 years.
More than a dozen bodies are on display in glass windows at a mausoleum in San Bernardo, Colombia, high in the Andes and 40 miles southwest of the country’s capital, Bogota.
Why they are so well preserved is a mystery, although some experts believe it is due to the local climate and altitude, which could affect the chemical composition of the earth and act as a natural embalmer.
However, locals believe that this is due to the local diet, which includes guatila, also known as tea, green, thorny fruit – although this theory does not explain why the clothes of the mummies are also in good condition.
Amazing new photos show extremely well-preserved “natural” mummies housed in a Colombian mausoleum, believed to date back only about 100 years.
This mummy, depicted inside its glass window in San Bernardo, rests in its usual position, with one hand on top of the other.
Strange: Preserved bodies of people born in the last 100 years have become a terrible tourist attraction
The bodies in the Colombian mausoleum are still in clothing and have well-preserved features such as facial and nail hair.
Pictured is the outside view of the mausoleum where natural mummies are on display in San Bernardo, Colombia
Chayote, a type of green and thorny pumpkin, is on display at market stalls in San Bernardo, Colombia
The mummified bodies of San Bernardo, belonging to people born in the last 100 years or so, were first discovered in the 1950s, when a local cemetery was relocated due to flooding.
The identity of the dead in San Bernardo is known – in fact, above each body there are signs that offer personal descriptions, such as “Margarita … she was very dedicated as a housewife, she always offered corn cakes and coffee to everyone.”
Some relatives of the victims even come to see what is left of their family member and pay their respects – including a man named Ever Pabon, whose father is among those on display, dressed in a gray plaid suit.
“Most people who lose their parents put them in the ground or cremate them and can never see them again,” Mr Pabon told Wall Street Journal in 2015. “But if I miss him, I can see him at any time and he is exactly as he was in life.”
Mr Pabon said he visited his father every two weeks and carried a picture of his mummified remains on his phone’s lock screen.
Looking at the faces of the bodies, some seem to have a calm expression, as if they died in peace and comfort, while others look more distorted
This close-up of one of San Bernardo’s bodies shows some well-preserved features that would normally rot – eyebrows and other facial hair
Pictured is the mausoleum where natural mummies are currently on display in San Bernardo, Colombia
The identities of the dead are known – in fact, above each body there are plates that offer various personal descriptions.
The mausoleum is located in San Bernardo, in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, high in the Andes and 40 miles southwest of the capital Bogota
After being excavated, the preserved remains were first exposed to the public in 1994, making the small Colombian city an unusual and controversial tourist attraction.
At the time, a Roman Catholic bishop said showing mummies was a sign of disrespect for the dead.
Looking at the faces of the bodies, some seem to have a calm expression, as if they have died in peace and comfort, while others seem more distorted with age.
Unfortunately, some of the bodies belong to children, some still wear clothes and shoes and are now on display together in the same glass cases.
The San Bernardo Mausoleum has provided visitors with a unique, albeit eerie, tourist attraction since it opened in the mid-1990s.
Some of the bodies belong to children, some still wear clothes and shoes and are now on display together in the same glass cases.
Why they are so well preserved is a mystery, although some experts believe that this is due to the climate and altitude of the Colombian city, which may affect the chemical composition of the earth
There is something in the atmosphere around the village that prevents the bodies from decomposing, but the scientific features are unknown.
A baby in her mother’s arms has been preserved without any chemical treatment due to a natural type of mummification
A similar natural mummification has been observed in Guanajuato, Mexico, where underground gas and soil chemicals are responsible for keeping the dead from rotting.
However, the dead in Guanajuato date from the first half of the 19th century, while the mummies in San Bernardo are relatively young.
Mummification involves the process of preserving the body after death by deliberately drying or embalming the flesh – but the bodies in San Bernardo are essentially mummified by accident.
About 12,000 people living in the village, nestled in a fertile valley among fruit bushes, have their own theories as to why the bodies did not decompose. In the photo, a mummy that was on display, covered with virgin white linin
This photo illustrates the remarkable state of preservation of the exhibition in the mausoleum, including the details in the muscles along the arms
Close-up of the legs and feet of the same mummy. Preserving the toes looks a little better on the left foot of the deceased
The mummy also has a cross resting on top of the chest and white linen over his head, which is turned to the side of the glass case.
The bodies at the mausoleum in San Bernardo, Colombia, belong to people who lived 100 years ago, according to authorities.
Another mummy in the mausoleum is covered with a fresh scarf and is displayed with flowers inside the glass case.
A similar natural mummification has been observed in Guanajuato, Mexico, where underground gas and soil chemicals are responsible for keeping the dead from rotting. Pictured is a mummy from San Bernardo
However, the dead in Guanajuato date back to the 19th century, while the mummies in San Bernardo are relatively young.
Ultimately, it is believed that determining the specific reason for the preservation of the mummies will require disturbance of the bodies, which relatives probably would not want to happen.
The locals have their own theories – there is a lot of tea or guatilla in the area, a strange fruit full of vitamin C with green, thorny skin and used in salads and originating from the area, which they believe has health benefits for mummies when they were alive .
Another local vegetable to which they also attribute the incredible preservation is the ball, which “looks like a big bean,” according to the WSJ.
The identity of the deceased at the San Bernardo Mausoleum is known, just like a cemetery, so relatives can pay their respects.
Close-up of a mummy’s hands. It is believed that determining the specific reason for the preservation of mummies will require concern for the bodies, which relatives would not want to do
A visitor to the mausoleum takes a picture of one of the bodies with her smartphone. This body is still dressed in the clothes in which it was originally buried
Rows of the dead fill the mausoleum of San Bernardo. The city moved the cemetery in the 1950s after the previous cemetery was flooded
The Mummies of San Bernardo – a national mystery in Colombia and one that attracts visitors to the small town 40 miles southwest of the capital Bogota