Mummified nuns found in convent

2008-02-27 19:27

Sao Paulo - The mummified remains of two nuns, the head of one lying on the shoulder of the other, have been found in the walls of a Sao Paulo convent in Brazil, media reported on Wednesday.

The bodies were discovered in one of six burial niches bricked over in the 234-year-old Mosteiro da Luz that continues to be the home of the reclusive Order of the Conceptionist Sisters as well as a museum of sacred art.

An official at the University of Sao Paulo's archaeology department, Sergio Monteiro da Silva, said it appeared the nuns had been put in the niche sometime between 1774 and 1822, when the room they were in was used as a cemetery.

Although they were found together, "the second nun probably died years after (the first)," he told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

The bodies were found around three weeks ago, when work was done to combat an invasion of insects. The discovery was kept secret until Tuesday while an excavation was carried out and the remains cleaned of debris.

The nuns' remains have been taken to a national heritage and history institute in Sao Paulo, where they are to be analysed by archaeologists and anthropologists.

The Monasterio de la Luz was founded in 1774 by the Franciscan monk Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao, who was canonised last year by Pope Benedict XVI.

Its convent today counts around a dozen nuns.

- AFP