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Catacombs
A network
of subterranean chambers and galleries used for burial purposes by peoples of the ancient
Mediterranean world, especially the early Christians.
By far the most important group of Catacombs are
outside Rome. The origin of the name is
unknown, but the cemetery under the
Basilica of St. Sebastian on the
Appian Way was called
the Catacumbas. This was perhaps a place-name which in the course of time came to be
applied to similar cemeteries. It could also have been derived from the Latin ad
catacumbas, meaning “at the hollows,” a phrase that referred to the
chambers at a hollow south of Rome.
The Romans at first buried
their dead in family catacombs, which were excavated outside the city walls and protected
by law, but later Romans preferred cremation. The Christians continued the practice of
interring the dead in catacombs, which they called koimetaria, or “sleeping
places,” to suggest that, for a Christian, death was merely sleep before
resurrection. By the 3rd century the catacombs were administered by the church.
In its simplest form, a
catacomb consisted of several underground galleries and chambers in a rectangular or grid
plan. Loculi (recesses) were cut in the walls, one above another, to receive the bodies of
from one to four family members. Persons of distinction were buried in stone coffins or
carved sarcophagi placed in arched niches. The tombs of martyrs, usually in separate
chambers, served as altars. As Christianity
gained converts and burials multiplied, the catacombs were expanded into honeycombs of
galleries. When one level was no longer sufficient, staircases were dug and a second,
third, fourth, or even fifth level of galleries was excavated below. Many of the catacombs
of prominent Christians were decorated with wall paintings depicting Christian symbols,
such as the fish, lamb, and anchor, or with biblical scenes. Similar motifs were carved on
tombs.
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During times of
persecution, the catacombs became places of refuge because burial places were sacrosanct
by law. When churches above ground were destroyed by imperial order, worshipers met in the
catacomb chapels. In the middle of the 3rd century, as mobs and officials began to violate
the catacombs, Christians destroyed the old entrances and made secret ones. The
persecution of the Christians came to an end with the conversion of the Roman emperor
Constantine in the 4th century. Soon after,
Pope Damasus I began a monumental restoration
of the catacombs. By the 5th century, however, all burials were transferred to surface
cemeteries connected with churches. The catacombs, especially the tombs of martyrs, became
places of pilgrimage. In the unsettled period when Rome suffered waves of barbarian
invaders, the catacombs were filled in to prevent desecration, their entrances sealed, and
the remains of the martyrs transported to places of safety. From the 16th century,
abandoned catacombs were gradually restored by the Roman Catholic church.
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Sources: Article is scheduled to be reviewed.
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