Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commo
A procession in the San Callistus catacombs in Rome, painted by Alberto Pisa
Grave niches in the Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome
Jesus and his twelve apostles, fresco with the Chi-Rho symbol ☧, Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome
The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered since 1578, others even as late as the 1950s.
Catacombs
…obscure origin, possibly deriving from a proper name or a derivation of the Latin cata tumbas "at the graves". The word referred originally only to the Roman catacombs, but was extended by the 19th century to refer to any subterranean receptacle of the dead, as in the 18th-century Paris catacombs. The ancient Christians…
A Eucharistic fresco, Catacomb of Callixtus
Good Shepherd fresco from the Catacombs of San Callisto
An earlier catacomb wall art, depicting Adam and Eve from the Old Testament.