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THE CATACOMBS of ROME (le catacombe
di roma)
WWW.TOURINROME.INFO
Christians dug an estimated 375 miles of
tomb-lined tunnels, with networks of
galleries as many as
five layers deep.
The
volcanic tufa stone that Rome sits
atop — soft and easy to cut, but which hardens when
exposed to air — was perfect for the job.
The
Christians burrowed many layers deep for two reasons: to
get more mileage out of the donated land, and to be near
martyrs and saints already buried there.
Most of
the
Catacombs
are concentrated on the Appian Way.
The
Apian Antica these days, is best known for its
catacombs
and tombs.
According
to the Roma law, inherited from Etruscans, all
burials had to be outside the pomerium, the
sacred ground of the city itself, and like all
consular roads the
Via Appia
was soon crowded with cemeteries and
elaborate mausoleums of the wealthy.
Later the
early Christian community built some of its most
extensive
catacombs
here-the word itself is believed to come from the
catacombs of
San Sebastiano, located near a dip (ad catacombs) in
the road.
The
Christians called them simply cemeteries.
Popular
romance and modern cinema not with standing, they were
never places of refuge from persecution or anything
else; as cruel as the ancient Romans could be,
they regarded bodies, even of executed ‘criminals’, as
inviolate and their tombs as sacred.
Later
Romans, as you’ve probably noticed by now, lacked
any qualms their ancestors may have had and so, you may
well ask, why is the
Via Appia Antica
so well preserved when the rest of extramural Rome
has been mercilessly buried under tons of concrete?
The
Catacombs, a
main destination in the Dark ages, were first pillaged
by the Goths and the Lombards, and then by
relic hunters; after the Saracen raid
of 847, the whole Via Appia declined, and became
infested throats malaria.
The
Catacombs
were abandoned and forgotten.
The great
archaeologist Giambattista De Rossi
rediscovered the lost Catacombs of St. Calixtus
in 1850, while the sculptor Antonio Canova deserves the
credit for the innovative idea of leaving the tombs, or
at least casts, along the road where they were found
instead of carting them off to rot in a
museum.
LIST OF
THE CATACOMBS IN ROME
Christian catacombs
in Rome
Catacombs of Marcellinus and Peter
Catacombs of Domitilla
Catacombs of Commodilla
Catacombs of Generosa
Catacombs of Prætextatus
Catacombs of Priscilla
Catacombs of San Callisto
Catacombs of San Lorenzo
Catacombs of San Pancrazio
Catacombs of San Sebastiano
Catacombs of San Valentino
Catacombs of Sant'Agnese
Catacombs of via Anapo
Jewish catacombs
in Rome
Catacombs of the Villa Torlonia
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