Catacombs << KAT uh kohmz >> are systems of underground passages or rooms once used as burial places. The most famous catacombs lie on the outskirts of Rome. The early Christians cut them into the soft tufa rock in the 200’s and 300’s. The catacombs formed a network of connecting corridors and rooms covering about 600 acres (240 hectares). Graves were cut into the walls. Bricks or marble slabs were used to close some of the graves. When more space was needed, additional galleries (halls) were dug beneath the first.
The Christians used the catacombs for funeral and memorial services. The fresco paintings on the walls are examples of early Christian art. Such scenes as Daniel in the Lions’ Den and Moses Striking the Rock symbolize God’s salvation of people and nations. The paintings also show orante (praying) figures of the dead resurrected in Paradise, with their arms raised in adoration.
During times of persecution, Christians took refuge in the catacombs because Roman law held burial places sacred. But the catacombs lost their usefulness when Christianity became the established religion of the Roman Empire. Their existence was forgotten after about 400. When the catacombs were rediscovered in 1578, it was first thought that they were the ruins of ancient cities.
Catacombs have been found in other Italian cities and in Sicily, Malta, Egypt, North Africa, and Palestine. The burial chapels of some monasteries and nunneries in Europe are sometimes called catacombs. The catacombs of Paris are abandoned stone quarries that were first used for burials in 1787.
See also Rome (The catacombs).
