This is the municipality in Colombia where corpses become mummies.

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San Bernardo is a municipality in the department of Cundinamarca. Photo: iStock / Facebook: @Alcaldía Municipal San Bernardo Cundinamarca

San Bernardo is a Colombian municipality located in the department of Cundinamarca, where a particular phenomenon has attracted the curiosity of tourists and scientists for more than 50 years.

Here, the bodies of the deceased are taken to the town cemetery, where residents have observed that some corpses do not decompose normally, but end up mummified.

The relatives agreed to display the bodies in the mausoleum. Photo: St. Bernard Parish

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The discovery was made accidentally in 1963 after locals carried out some exhumations . During the process, they noticed that most of the dead still had skin, hair, nails, and facial features.

Over time, cases of mummification became more common, so the municipal administration decided to request permission from relatives to display the bodies.

Currently, the naturally preserved bodies are kept in glass urns in the José Arquímedes Castro mausoleum , run by the parish of San Bernardo, which is accessible to millions of tourists.

Some theories suggest that climate influences the preservation of bodies. Photo: Parish of San Bernardo

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Although there is no concrete explanation for this phenomenon at this time, experts who have visited the municipality for years believe that the town's geographic and climatic characteristics may influence the mummification process.

Furthermore, the vaults where the bodies are stored have a dry environment, allowing for natural dehydration of the remains . Another prevailing theory is that the region's soil is rich in minerals, so decomposition does not occur normally.

Since the main reason why the bodies are preserved in San Bernardo is still unknown, the municipality's residents believe their loved ones refuse to leave the area and prefer to remain in the mausoleum.

This is the municipality in Colombia where corpses become mummies.

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