MT. CARMEL CEMETERY & THE ITALIAN BRIDE

MT. CARMEL CEMETERY & JULIA PETTA...
"THE ITALIAN BRIDE"
HILLSIDE, ILLINOIS

Besides being the burial place of Al Capone and a number of other of Chicago's greatest gangsters, this cemetery is also the final resting place of Julia Buccola Petta. She has also become known over the years as the "Italian Bride" and she has also become famous because of the fact that over the course of six years...her body never decayed!

Julia died in childbirth in 1921, at only 20 years of age. Shortly after her burial, her mother Filomena began having very strange dreams in which Julia told her that she was still alive and needed her help. The dreams continued for over six years, during which time Filomena tried without success to have her daughter's grave opened. Finally, she was able to get permission to have her exhumed and when the casket was opened up, Julia's body was found to have not decayed at all.

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This photo is mounted on the gravestone of Julia Petta and shows the "incorruptible" state of her body after she was exhumed. No explanation has ever been found as to why this occurred.

Julia Petta's grave monument shows the life-size figure of her in a wedding dress, a portrait of this is also mounted on the grave stone. There is also another photo here....that of Julia's body after her grave was opened. If you look closely at the photo (posted above), you will see that the coffin is muddy and in poor condition, although the woman herself appears to only be sleeping.

It is not surprising that reports have circulated over the years that claim a woman in white has been seen in the vicinity of Julia's grave. Late-night travelers on the nearby street say that this women appears to wander across the cemetery and that she seems to be wearing a glowing bridal gown.