Title Image Source: Imgur
Heads Up
Heads Up
Imagine, if you will, that the first thing you see when entering a building is a severed head, pickled in a jar. This is exactly what you would find, next to a diaphonized hand, when entering the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine.
Just a head, staring blankly, as physicians and staff pass by with indifference. What a sight!
Who does the head belong to? Well, its owner was Diogo Alves, whose claims to fame include being both the first serial killer and the last man hanged in Portugal.
Diogo Alves was born in Galicia in 1810. He traveled to Lisbon early in his life, to serve in the houses of the Portuguese capital. This migration of Galicians southward looking for work was very common, but Alves soon realized that it still wasn’t enough work. So, he turned to a life of crime, finding it much more profitable. Some tales of his life blame an opportunistic barmaid for this shift in morality – because what’s a good story without a temptress? – but with no hard evidence, being poor seems like a good enough reason to me.
In 1836, he transferred his workplace to the Aqueduto das Águas Livres (Aqueduct of the Free Waters), which was a nearly one kilometer (0.62 miles) long, spanning the Alcântara valley, which allowed both water and suburban farmers to make their way into the city, 213 feet above the rural landscape.
The Aqueduto das Águas Livres, Lisbon, where Alves committed his crimes. PUBLIC DOMAIN