Wandering Icons

The catacombs are one of the most fascinating sights in Rome. Five of them are open to the public, and admission to them is relatively inexpensive. Admittance to the catacombs includes a free guided tour. Each of the five catacombs closes one day a week on a rotating basis, so that at least four of the catacombs are open each day, except for three holidays: New Years, Easter, and Christmas. The most famous of the five catacombs is that of Saint Callistus (or Callixtus), which is open every day except Wednesdays.

The Catacombs: What Are They?

The catacombs are underground burial chambers fashioned by the early Christians to bury their loved ones.They are situated outside the ancient city walls of Rome. Two of them are alongside the ancient Appian Way.

The early Christians used hand tools to excavate their underground burial chambers. These chambers were dug out of a soft rock known as tuffa. Tuffa rock is very soft and can easily be dug out with hand tools. Yet, once tuffa is exposed to air, it hardens. This characteristic of tuffa rock enabled the early Christians to dig our numerous passageways through the tuffa. The walls of these passages are lined with burial niches, where the bodies of deceased Christians were placed.

Why Are They Called Catacombs?

From where did the term “catacombs” come? In the beginning, it was merely a geographic word of identification. It had nothing to do with the early Christian burial sites. Early Roman maps bore the description, “ad catacumbas,” for a region of land near the Appian Way where the ground sank down and there was a large hollow. Ad catacumbas is merely Latin for “near the hollow.” The name for the area was there long before the Christians created their subterranean tombs there.

Now, not too far from the Catacomb of St. Callistus, there is another underground cemetery named after a saintly Christian called Sebastian. Well, in the late 4th and the 5th centuries, a lot of pilgrims came to Rome to view these underground burial chambers. And maps and guides were made for these pilgrims.

In these guides and other documents, the Sebastian cemetery was given this name: Cymiterium Catacumbas ad sanctum Sebastianum via Appia. This name was merely giving the location of this cemetery, being one of the cemeteries located in the catacumbas region along the Appian Way.

Somehow, during the early Middle Ages, primarily through ignorance, people started referring to all of these underground cemeteries as “catacombs.” And that is how the name got started.

Discovery of the Catacombs

After the year 1200, fewer and fewer pilgrims came to visit the catacombs. Eventually, the local Roman Christians quit giving tours of the catacombs, and these underground cemeteries were forgotten. The entrances to some of the catacombs were covered by rock slides. Shrubs and trees covered the entrances of the other ones. Eventually the time came when nobody could remember where the various entrances to the catacombs were located. And so the catacombs passed into oblivion.

In 1849, a 27-year old Italian archaeologist named Giovanni Rossi was searching for ancient Christian artifacts along the Appian Way. One day, he was looking through the grounds of a vineyard just outside of Rome when he suddenly spied a piece of broken marble. He picked it up and studied it.

The piece of marble had an inscription on it, some of which was missing. But the part that was left said: “. . .nelius martyr.” He pondered it awhile, and then made a smart guess. Perhaps this was from the tomb of Cornelius. Cornelius had been the bishop of Rome in the 3rd century, and he was martyred in the year 253. He was buried somewhere near the Appian Way.

Of course, Giovanni was excited about possibly finding this tomb. But there was something even more electrifying. He knew from ancient records that Cornelius was buried right by the early Christian underground cemetery that was known in the Middle Ages as the catacombs of St. Callistus.

Well, Giovanni had a strong hunch that these catacombs were located right beneath the vineyard where he was working. Being Roman Catholic, he immediately contacted the papal authorities about his hunch. So the papal office bought the vineyard, and Giovanni de Rossi was commissioned to begin excavating. His hunch proved to be right, and within a few years he had uncovered much of the catacomb of St. Callistus, the largest of all of the catacombs. In the years that followed, eventually the other catacombs were found.

Mr. Eckelmann is both a writer and an enthusiastic photographer. He particularly enjoys Rome because of the many historic places and attractions there are to photograph there. To see some amazing photographs of the catacombs, he invites you to visit his website.