Random Ghost Fact: The SICILIAN Bride

From GHOSTHUNTING ILLINOIS, here's this neat tidbit: It is traditional for a Sicilian woman who dies in childbirth to be buried in her wedding gown. Such was the case for the Italian Bride (so named by people who don't know the difference between Italy and Sicily), who died in childbirth in 1921.

Julia Buccola Petta was buried in her wedding gown. Her mother immediately began having dreams about her daughter begging her for help, pleading that she was still alive. For six years, her mother tried to convince the authorities to exhume her daughter.

Finally, six years after her death, Julia was exhumed. Her body was found in an "incorruptible state" - after six years underground, her body had not decayed at all. Someone took a picture, which is often touted on pro-ghost web sites and books and immortalized in a stone carving on her grave.

Julia was re-interred at Mt. Carmel Cemetery under her life-size statue, still clad in her wedding gown. Of course, people say she haunts the place. No one knows why her body did not decay.

(Note: I think I will give you random ghost facts on this blog from time to time as I continue to research Midwestern ghost history for YELLOW ROSES. Muahahaha. Sleep well!)

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