Roman Catacombs TOUR OF ROME |
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CRYPTS AND CATACOMBS
::: Every Monday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday between 09:00 - 12:00. |
Contrary to popular belief, Christian fossors did not excavate the catacombs of Rome to bury their departed in secret. The reality was that both land and money were in short supply and the need for burial space was great. They were forced underground by economy. The catacombs were used as sanctuary in times of persecution but only in exceptional circumstances, when the celebration of Mass elsewhere would have endangered the participants. As a place of dignity in which to commemorate their dead and remember their martyrs, and when necessary, to do so without fear of reprisals, they were a haven, and have since become central to studies of early Christian art through the many well preserved sculptures and frescoes recovered and in situ. Christian, Jewish and Pagan cemetries beneath the Rome area were hewn from volcanic tufa between c. 130 AD - 400 AD. A number of factors supported the excavation of so many deep burial chambers and tunnels. By law, burials were not permitted within the perimeter of the Aurelian Wall; the location of the catacomb sites, which followed the old consular roads leading out of Rome, proffered a degree of privacy and sense of community which enabled Christians to live freely; to be buried, as opposed to the Pagan way of cremation, was of singular, defining importance to their faith.
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APPIA Antica Catacombs TOUR |
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