Where else to start posting on highlights of my recent trip to Italy than with a peek beneath the living layer of Napoli, one of the country's most extraordinarily vibrant, thrumming cities?
The Catacombs of San Gannaro, Naples' patron saint, provides us with a fascinating look at the layers of time through one city's perspective, given that The Greek Neapolis and the present-day city are not separated by millennia but but by meters of soil underground.
First dug in the Pagan era, the catacombs were almost forgotten after the Middle Ages until the urbanization of this part of Naples in the 16th Century. Located on the slope of Capodimonte close to the Church of Buon Consiglio this underworld that was created for the dead to be close enough for the living to visit but out of the original city walls, as was the lore of the time.
Dialogue with the dead is a part of life in the city of Naples, through its idioms, devotions and ancient rituals.The saints are ever present in the daily life of Neapolitans, whether in intercessions for important graces or for minor requests. Small sacred images are faithfully kept in wallets, while the votive aediculae (small shrines that became fashionable in the Roman era) scattered among the many narrow alleys are beautiful little altars that bind those who have passed with all who go about their business in the bustling city today.
And so it's not surprising we're invited to wander the ancient catacombs of the early Neapolitans, to stand beneath and beside frescos from the 2nd and 3rd Century AC on guided tours of these archeological wonders.
Pictured above is the symbol of Eternal Life, the Peacock, below, Adam and Eve and, Faith, Hope and Charity.
The Catacombs are arranged on two levels with the original nucleus of the Catacombs of San Gennaro dating back to the 2nd century AD. It is believed to have been the tomb of a noble family, who then provided spaces for the Christian community.
Its expansion began in the 4th century AD following the deposition of the remains of St. Agrippinus, the first patron of Naples, to the underground basilica dedicated to him. It consists of a single nave dug out of the tuff, which still preserves a bishop's chair carved into the rock and the altar with an opening, in which the faithful could see and touch the saint's tomb.
San Gennaro's remains were moved there in the fifth century. The presence of the martyr turned the upper catacomb into a pilgrimage site and coveted place for burial.
Two examples of the expansion of the Catacomb are the Crypt of the Bishops, where the city's bishops are buried,and the majestic basilica adjecta, an underground basilica with three naves, built after the transfer of San Gennaro's remains. Mass is still celebrated there, today.
There were different types of burial: the simplest type were dug in the ground or along the walls and peripheral corridors of the ambulatory. The tombs of the most wealthy, the arcosolia, were arched in shape.
The decorations of the tombs served to underline the importance of families, and could feature frescos or mosaics.
Sometime between the 13th and 18th Centuries, anything deemed of value was looted from the catacombs. It's a good thing the frescos were painted on the walls. During the 1800s the skulls of the many, otherwise decomposed skeletons were removed and stacked in piles at the shadowy underground chamber of the cemetery of Fontanelle in Naples. Nobody knows how many souls were buried in the catacombs and there may be more chambers yet to be discovered.
Check tour times if you visit Naples & it's a good idea to book ahead. Click here for more info.
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