Santa Maria della Concezione Convento dei Cappuccini

Address:Via Veneto, 27
Rome, Italy

(close to Piazza Barberini)

At the corner of the Via Veneto and the Piazza Barberini, the Santa Maria della Concezione Church is mostly known for the Crypt of the Cappuccini Monks

About halfway up the stairs to the church, on the right side, you will find the entrance to the ossuary, known as the Capuchin Crypt, in which is displayed the bones of over 4000 Capuchin friars, collected between the years of 1528 and 1870. When one of the friars die, he is buried in a vault, and after some time the bones are retrieved and placed in this ossuary. The bones are fashioned into decorative displays in the Baroque and Rococo style.

Some of the skeletons are intact, draped with Franciscan habits. The tradition of the friars is that it was the work of a French Capuchin.
Their literature suggests that you should visit the cemetery while keeping in mind the historical moment of its origins, when Christians had a rich and creative cult for their dead and great spiritual masters meditated and preached with a skull in hand. Those who've lived through the days of crematoriums and other such massacres might view the graveyard differently, but to many who pause to think, this sight has his message.