"Little Vatican"

 

“Little Vatican”

(The Roman Catacombs)

 

"The Martyrs in the Catacombs" by Jules Eugène Lenepveu (1819 -1898)

The Catacombs of Rome are ancient Christian burial tunnels containing 3rd-century frescoes & the crypts of martyrs & popes.

 

 

"In ancient Roman times, no one was allowed to be buried within the walls of the city. While pagan Romans were into cremation, Christians preferred to be buried (so they could be resurrected when the time came). But land was expensive, and most Christians were poor. A few wealthy, landowning Christians allowed their land to be used as burial places.

The 40 or so known catacombs are scattered outside the ancient walls of Rome. From the first through the fifth centuries, Christians dug an estimated 375 miles of tomb-lined tunnels, with networks of galleries as many as five layers deep.

When Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in A.D. 313, Christians began making pilgrimages to their burial places in the catacombs.

In the 800s, when barbarian invaders started ransacking the tombs, Christians moved the relics of saints and martyrs to the safety of churches in the city center. For a thousand years, the catacombs were forgotten. In early modern times, they were excavated and became part of the Romantic Age's Grand Tour of Europe." [1]

 

 "The underground tunnels, while empty of bones, are rich in early Christian symbolism, which functioned as a secret language. The dove represented the soul. You'll see it quenching its thirst (worshipping), with an olive branch (at rest), or happily perched (in paradise). Peacocks, known for their purportedly "incorruptible flesh," embodied immortality. The shepherd with a lamb on his shoulders was the "good shepherd," the first portrayal of Christ as a kindly leader of his flock. The fish was used because the first letters of these words — "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" — spelled "fish" in Greek. And the anchor is a cross in disguise. A second-century bishop had written on his tomb, "All who understand these things, pray for me." You'll see pictures of people praying with their hands raised up — the custom at the time." [1]

 

 



"The catacombs of St. Callixtus are among the greatest and most important of Rome. They originated about the middle of the second century and are part of a cemeterial complex. In it were buried tens of martyrs, 16 popes and very many Christians.

They are named after the deacon Callixtus who, at the beginning of the third century, was appointed by pope Zephyrinus as the administrator of the cemetery and so the catacombs of St. Callixtus became the official cemetery of the Church of Rome.   In the open area are two small basilicas with three apses, known as the "Trichorae". In the Eastern one were perhaps laid to rest pope Zephyrinus and the young martyr of the Eucharist, St. Tarcisius.  The underground cemetery includes several areas. The Crypts of Lucina and the area of the Popes and of St. Cecilia are the most ancient areas." [2]

 

 

 

-The Legend of the Holy Grail-

"The aura of mystery surrounding the catacombs has fed legends for centuries. Recently, Alfredo Barbagallo, an amateur archaeologist, claimed that the Holy Grail could be hidden in Rome, in the catacomb underneath the Basilica of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, near the tomb of St. Lawrence, a deacon martyred in A.D. 258.

According to a legend, Pope Sixtus II entrusted the Holy Grail to Lawrence to save it from the persecution of Emperor Valerian. The deacon put the chalice in a safe place—and perhaps even sent it to Spain—before being killed. Barbagallo thinks the Grail never left Rome and is currently buried in a tunnel under the basilica dedicated to St. Lawrence.

Vatican authorities denied permission to open the catacomb and look for the chalice. "There isn't any solid evidence behind Barbagallo's claims," says Vincenzo Fiocchi Nicolai, rector of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology.

Adriano Morabito agrees. 'We don't expect any great discovery from Roman catacombs. Early Christians didn't use to bury objects with the dead. As for now we only found inscriptions and human remains." [3]



[1] Openshaw, R. S. (2015). Rome's Catacombs. Retrieved from Rick Steven's Europe: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/romes-catacombs

[2] Istituto Salesiano San Callisto - Rome. (n.d.). The Catacombs of St. Callixtus. Retrieved from The Christain Catacombs of Rome: http://www.catacombe.roma.it/en/index.php

[3] National Geographic Society. (2015). What's Inside Rome's Ancient Catacombs? Retrieved from National Geographic: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/rome-catacombs/