Inside the Cult of the Dead: The macabre 'bone yard' cemetery in Naples packed with human skulls known as 'little wretches'

These eerie photos show a Cult of the Dead cemetery in Italy where human skulls are piled up in a macabre 'bone yard'.
The Fontanelle cemetery, a vast underground ossuary, was once used by residents in Naples to bury the corpses of loved ones when there was no room in church graveyards in the city.
But over the years, Fontanelle cemetery, located in a cave in the hillside of the city's Sanita quarter, became a place of worship where bones were referred to as 'anime pezzentelle', or 'little wretches'.
The 325,000 sq ft chambers, known as 'The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead,' or 'The Neapolitan Skull Cult', were also used as a mass grave for victims of the plague of 1656.
It would go on to become a focal point for various rites, legends and tales of miracles.
Visitors bring gifts for the pezzentelle - which some believe create a link between the living and the dead - and ask for favours in return.

The site suffered from neglect over the years until it was reopened under a programme of renovations in 2006.



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Eerie photos have shed light on the Cult of the Dead cemetery in Italy where human skulls are piled up in a macabre 'bone yard'

The vast underground ossuary in Naples was once used to bury the corpses of loved ones when the church graveyard ran out of room

Now the Fontanelle cemetery, located in a cave in the hillside of the city's Sanita quarter, has became a place of worship

The skulls and bones of the deceased placed inside the cemetery are referred to as 'anime pezzentelle' - or 'little wretches'

Horrible...

Cannot begin to wonder where their soul will go after their remains had been given to the cult of the dead instead of going back to the soil in good faith