L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano U n d e r g r o u n d tunnels, burial sites, places of worship, hid- i n g s p a c e s . Catacombs have been all that throughout their histo- ry. Many cities - the older the better, of course - have some sort of underground networks of passages and c h a m b e r s , s o m e m o r e f a m o u s t h a n o t h e r s : w e know well, in Italy, the cata- combs of Palermo, but also the Bourbon tunnels under Naples. Paris has its own, too. Of course, the ones in R o m e r e m a i n t h e m o s t famous and the most impor- tant from an archaeological, historical and, if you are reli- gious, spiritual point of view. Their history is complex a n d , p e r h a p s , n o t a s straightforward as we imag- i n e , s t a r t i n g w i t h t h e i r n a m e : c a t a c o m b s . T h e w o r d i s , t o d a y , u s e d t o define underground burial sites but in antiquity, they weren't called like that. They were known as coemeteria, which came from the Greek word for "dormitory:" an association, that between d e a t h a n d s l e e p , w h i c h makes sense to Christians of p r e s e n t a n d p a s t , a n d t o every person who believes in a life after this one. Eventu- a l l y , t h e u n d e r g r o u n d n e c r o p o l i s w h e r e S a i n t Sebastian was buried, on the V i a A p p i a , s t a r t e d b e i n g known as a "catacomb," a noun semantically attached to its location, near a group of stone quarries. T h e r e i s a l s o t h i s i d e a that, in Rome, there are only Christian catacombs, but it's not quite like that. Chris- tians weren't the first ones to b u r y t h e i r d e a d u n d e r - ground: the Romans pre- ferred cremation, but they would still use underground tombs. The Eternal City is home to thousands of them, as well as more than sixty catacombs, six of which are Jewish. Of them, only two still exist today, but they are not open to the public. Regardless of their reli- gious association, catacombs were largely built outside the ancient city walls, as it was c u s t o m a r y i n t h o s e y e a r s when burial could only take place far from the living. Indeed, if you look at their a d d r e s s e s , y o u ' l l q u i c k l y notice that most of them, a n d c e r t a i n l y t h e m o s t famous, are all along well- known Roman roads: the Via Appia, the Via Nomen- tana, the Via Tiburtina, the Via Ostiense, the Via Labi- cana. For instance, the cata- combs of San Callisto, Santa Domitilla and San Sebas- t i a n o a r e a l l a l o n g t h e a n c i e n t V i a A p p i a , w h i l e those of Sant' Agnese and Santa Priscilla are in the Via N o m e n t a n a - V i a S a l a r i a a r e a . T h e c u s t o m d i d n ' t apply only to catacombs: the same areas are dotted with the ancient tombs of Roman patricians who, as we men- tioned, would be usually cre- mated, and buried under- ground in urns. But cremation wasn't an option for the early Chris- tians, who believed, just like the ancient Egyptians thou- sands of years before them, t h a t t h e b o d y , o n e d a y , would have risen again: you couldn't just burn it. That's why they would dig into the tufa under the city, extend- ing ancient chambers and creating new ones to bury their loved ones. Even today, when you visit, one can still s e e t h e r e c t a n g u l a r c e l l s carved into the cave walls where the bodies used to be. There's certainly no doubt t h a t t h e c a t a c o m b s w e r e places of burial, but they were likely more. During the religious persecution against the Christians, they became a safe refuge for the commu- nity, where they could also w o r s h i p a n d h o n o r t h e i r dead. Indeed, the impor - t a n c e o f t h e c u l t o f t h e dead for the early Chris- t i a n s , a c u s t o m t h a t t h e y inherited from their Jewish a n d P a g a n n e i g h b o r s , i s something we should never d i s c o u n t w h e n t h i n k i n g about Rome's catacombs, w h i c h w e r e a l s o p l a c e s where the Christian commu- nity would meet to celebrate the dead in union and con- viviality, with banquets and feasts. Today, the Christian cata- combs of Rome are managed a n d s a f e g u a r d e d b y t h e Pontificia Commissione d i A r c h e o l o g i a S a c r a (The Pontifical Commission f o r S a c r e d A r c h a e o l o g y ) , which is also in charge of all restorations and new excava- tions. Not all catacombs, of course, are open to the pub- lic, and even those that are, may not be fully so: in some catacombs, for instance, the lower levels are kept protect- ed because that's where all the bodies - including those that once were in the view- able areas - peacefully rest. The most famous cata - combs in Rome are probably those of San Sebastiano, b e c a u s e t h a t ' s w h e r e t h e saint is buried, even though the first official cemetery of the Roman Church was the catacombs of San Callisto, w h e r e m o r e t h a n s i x t e e n popes are buried, eight of w h i c h a r e i n t h e P o p e s ' Crypt. Beside it is the cham- b e r w h e r e S a n t a C e c i l i a r e s t s . T h e c a t a c o m b s o f Santa Priscilla are smaller than others but are known f o r t h e i r b e a u t i f u l l y p r e - served early Christian fres- coes, including one depicting what is considered the first representation of Mary and the Child. The catacombs of San Pretestato and those of Santa Tecla are known for the many artistic and archaeological treasures they contain and, while they are o p e n t o t h e p u b l i c , v i s i t s n e e d t o b e b o o k e d i n advance (there is no need to do so for the others). Rome's catacombs are one among thousands of impor- tant historical and archaeo- logical sites in the city, but t h e y d i f f e r f r o m m a n y o f them in one significant way. Whether one is a Christian or not, they hold within the hopes, prayers, thoughts and love of our ancestors; they have been a place of mourn- ing and faith, of safety, rest and epiphanies. Something that transcends creeds and philosophies and is quintes- sentially human. LUCA SIGNORINI The catacombs under San Pancrazio Basilica, in Rome (Photo: Frank Bach/Dreamstime) All you need to know about the Roman catacombs HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE

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