Web site lists world's top crypts

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A California-based travel Web site chose the "World's Five Best Crypts and Catacombs" in honor of the coming Halloween holiday.

The Capuchin Crypt in Rome under the church of Santa Maria della Concezione was chosen to top the list by VirtualTourist.com, which cited the crypt's use of bones from more than 4,000 monks to create "visually stunning" displays in the "unquestionably creepy" crypt.

The Catacombs of Paris were second on the list, despite being closed indefinitely due to vandalism. The Web site said the catacombs, which were created in the 1700s, contain the remains of Madame de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV.

VirtualTourist said the No. 3 location, the Catacombs of Sousse, Tunisia, contains at least 15,000 graves with glass displays allowing viewers to view the remains.

The Web site said the Catacombs of Lima, Peru, chosen as fourth on the list, is said to contain secret passages and houses 25,000 bodies, with many of them arranged in concentric circles.

Finishing off the list were the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt, which date back 2,000 years and contain tombs with Greco-Roman design elements alongside the likenesses of gods and goddesses.