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# One of the Most Mysterious and Frightening Museums in the World: Rome's Museum of the Souls in Purgatory
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/odin-iz-samykh-tainstvennykh-i-pugaiushchikh-muzeev-mira-rimskii-muzei-dush-chistilishcha/
- Published: 2019-10-16T11:21:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:43:29.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Museums, Observations, Rome

This tiny museum holds artefacts that point to the existence of a life after death: the traces of souls that have found their way into Purgatory.

In the nineteenth century a chapel for prayers for the dead stood on this spot. After a fire there in 1897, a mark appeared on the altar wall that resembled a human head, surrounded by the grinning faces of demons. The chapel's custodian, Victor Jouët, supposed these to be the traces of souls consigned to purgatory. The idea took such hold of him that he began to collect manifestations of departed souls across the whole of Europe, and by the time the new church was built he had assembled a small collection of objects that point directly to contact with otherworldly forces.

The museum is housed in the corridor leading to the sacristy of the Church of the Sacred Heart. Should you decide to visit, go into the church, find one of the attendants and ask to be shown the museum. As for opening hours, I would not presume to speak of them, since for several years running I arrived during what were supposedly working hours, only to find myself facing closed doors.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_1917@16-10-2019_14-21-20.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_1918@16-10-2019_14-21-20.jpg)