The many-faced Rome, numbering several millennia, is the most mysterious city in Italy, in which the pages of a historical novel come to life. For centuries, the capital that has been created, where the past, present and future are harmoniously connected, surprises with a huge number of unique objects that have made it a real open-air museum. The historical and cultural heritage of the Eternal City is accessible to tourists who make an exciting journey in ancient times and get acquainted with the pearl of Italy, which has preserved Christian shrines.
Catacombe di roma
Not only Orthodox pilgrims, but also all vacationers eager to discover something new and unknown, the roads will lead to the underground catacombs of Rome, which are an extensive network of labyrinths from tufa, in the walls of which niches for burials are knocked out. Multilevel galleries encircling the space under the capital of the country arose in the pre-Christian era. Pagan, Saracen and Jewish catacombs are known, and in total, scientists discovered more than 60 underground labyrinths and about 750 thousand crypts.
Most of them appeared in the early Christian era, and the very first galleries were created in 107 AD. The apostle Peter and his disciples found loyal followers among people of various social backgrounds. The first Christians of Rome were often persecuted, because the emperor demanded that only he was recognized as a god, and adherents of the new religion worshiped the one and only Christ.
Burial Catacombs
Previously, it was believed that in the catacombs of Rome people were hiding, who were pursued by the emperor’s soldiers, but this is not so: in the underground labyrinths, where it is always dark, no one lived, because it is simply impossible. Experienced by the wrath of the rulers, Christians used the abandoned quarries or private possessions of the Romans, who accepted the new faith, to bury their loved ones separately from the pagans. Feeling safe, they dug passages in tuff and expanded the already existing corridors, creating a huge network of labyrinths from 2.5 to 5 meters high. The porous rock is quite soft, crumbles easily, and it is easy to dig out a whole transition system with an ordinary shovel or pickax.
Some facts about burial in galleries
On both sides of the corridors, Christians knocked out multi-tiered niches (locules) in the walls, in which the bodies of the deceased were placed. Then a kind of tomb was walled up with stone slabs. The deceased co-religionists were washed, anointed with incense, since the Christians did not embalm the bodies, wrapped them in a shroud and put them in a niche of the dungeon, covering it with bricks or a plate on which the name of the deceased and laconic epitaphs were carved. Often an oil lamp was walled into the wall .
Depressions in narrow corridors were carved into several tiers up to five meters high. Cubes were cut down in the underground corridors - side rooms, which were family crypts or burial places of popes and martyrs.
It is curious that the people who dug up the underground galleries, and subsequently kept the labyrinths in satisfactory condition, were called the Fossors, and they were led by managers appointed by the bishops. Many dungeons are named after them, for example the Callist catacombs in Rome received the name of Protodeacon Callist, who became a pontiff. At the beginning of the IV century, when Christianity was declared the official religion, all persecutions against believers ceased, and the dungeons dug by them were recognized as official burials.
Discovery of Forgotten Dungeons
The catacombs of Rome were considered a very important phenomenon in the life of the capital of the country, however, after a century, the labyrinths become desolate, since they cease to be used for the burial of the dead. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flocked to the dungeons, which turned into the sanctuary of the martyrs. But soon, by the will of the Roman bishops, relics are removed and transferred to the city's temples.
Deprived of the remains of revered saints, the galleries were forgotten until 1578, when the construction of the via Salaria road began and the first cemetery was discovered. So the catacombs of Priscilla, an aristocrat who came from a noble and respected family and owned a large plot of land, on which underground burials appeared, were found.
A large-scale study of the catacombs of saints in Rome took place in the 19th century, and a great contribution to their research was made by the Russian artist Reiman, who wrote about a hundred copies of the frescoes preserved on the walls of the galleries. Since 1929, the collection and inventory of items preserved in the tunnels begins.
Catacombe di priscilla
The system of Christian dungeons is the most extensive of all, and the oldest of them are the well-preserved Priscilla catacombs, which have become a real sensation. They revealed unique examples of ancient art: wall paintings with images of scenes from the New and Old Testaments, colorful murals, the main character of which is the Good Shepherd - a symbol of Jesus Christ. An important attraction of the Roman catacombs is a small room with inscriptions in Greek, where benches for funeral feasts (Cappella Greca) were installed.
Scientists are particularly interested in the bright fresco made in the II century, which depicts a woman in a bright raspberry dress and light veil. This is the oldest image of a praying saint.
You can get into the underground labyrinths located at Via Salaria, 430 by city bus numbers 86 or 92. You need to get off at the Piazza Crati stop, and then follow the signs with via Priscilla. To get into all the dungeons is possible only as part of the excursion group.
Catacombe di san callisto
However, the largest Christian burial are considered to be the catacombs of St. Callistus in Rome, which appeared in the II century. Stretching for 12 kilometers under the Appian Way, they are a four-level labyrinth, which can be called the "city of the dead", because it has its own streets, intersections and even squares. In underground galleries, in which cemeteries of different periods of time are combined, archaeologists are now working, and not all burials are open to visitors. Over the course of a long history, about 50 martyrs and 16 Roman popes found their last refuge here, and for this the catacombs are called the main monument of Christian cemeteries.
The most popular crypt is the tomb of St. Cecilia (Santa Cecilia), where wall frescoes and mosaics are perfectly preserved. Roman pontiffs and holy martyrs, who led the church, rest in the square called "Little Vatican".
The underground cemetery, which was dealt with by Deacon Calliste, is recognized as the most famous catacomb in Rome. How to get to Catacombe di San Callisto, located at Via Appia Antica 110/126? City buses numbered 118 (you need to get off at the bus stop of the same name) or 218 (the final destination of the Fosse Ardeatine route) will take you to historical sites.
Catacombe di san sebastiano
The most accessible of all the underground galleries are the four-level catacombs of St. Sebastian. Located at Via Appia Antica 136, they have been preserved far worse than the rest. Once the pagans buried their loved ones in the labyrinths, and by the end of the 2nd century, the consecrated necropolis became Christian. Saint Sebastian, who defied the emperor Diocletian, died in 298, and after the burial of his remains, the previously nameless catacombs of Rome got their current name.
How to get into the unique tunnels in which religious meetings were once held during the time of the persecution of Christians? You can get to them on city buses numbered 118 and 218, and you need to get off at the Cecilia Metella stop.
Underground cemeteries attractive to tourists
Tourists who have visited underground galleries admit that it is difficult for them to describe the whole gamut of feelings at the sight of gravestones that appeared many centuries ago.
Gloomy deserted corridors, in which it is always quiet, evoke thoughts of imminent death, however, the mysterious labyrinths, which keep many secrets, still attract visitors who love the thrill. In the catacombs of ancient Rome untouched by modernity, everyone will touch the distant early Christian times.