Tag: Catacombs
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Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus
Are you ready for a journey into the macabre underbelly of Naples? Welcome to the Catacombs of San Gaudioso, where the dead don’t just rest – they put on a show! Nestled beneath the bustling Rione Sanità district, these 4th-century catacombs are a veritable playground for the morbidly curious. Here’s what awaits you in this…
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The dove and the raven and the flood notes
According to the biblical story (Genesis 8:11), a dove was released by Noah after the Flood in order to find land; it came back carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf (Hebrew: עלה זית alay zayit),[Gen 8:11] a sign of life after the Flood and of God’s bringing Noah, his family and the animals to land. Rabbinic literature interpreted the olive leaf as “the young shoots of…
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Catacombs of Lima, Peru
The Catacombs of Lima (Spanish: Catacumbas de Lima) are underground ossuaries in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. The catacombs were built under the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco and currently function as a museum. History In 1546, the Franciscan order began construction of the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco in Lima, which included the catacombs, built to support the convent in the event of an earthquake. The crypt’s use as a cemetery continued for almost…
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An arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment
An arcosolium, plural arcosolia, is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin arcus, “arch”, and solium, “throne” (literally “place of state”) or post-classical “sarcophagus“.[dubious – discuss] Early arcosolia were carved out of the living rock in catacombs. In the very earliest of these, the arched recess was cut to ground level. Then a low wall would be…
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The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (also Catacombe dei Cappuccini or Catacombs of the Capuchins) are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Today they provide a somewhat macabre tourist attraction as well as an extraordinary historical record. Historical background Palermo’s Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century and monks began to excavate crypts below it. In 1599 they mummified one of their number, the recently-deceased brother Silvestro of Gubbio, and placed him…
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Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary (“os” is “bone” in Latin). The greatly…
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Catacombs of San Gennaro in Naples, Italy
The Catacombs of San Gennaro are underground paleo-Christian burial and worship sites in Naples, Italy, carved out of tuff, a porous stone. They are situated in the northern part of the city, on the slope leading up to Capodimonte [it], consisting of two levels, San Gennaro Superiore, and San Gennaro Inferiore. The catacombs lie under the Rione Sanità neighborhood of Naples, sometimes called the “Valley of the Dead”. The…