Catacombs of Naples: Ancient Burial Grounds
Ever heard of something being built over an ancient burial ground? Well, finding out that Naples has a series of catacombs right under our feet made the saying a reality! I was more than thrilled to be given the opportunity to tour the underground tombs of Naples.
Some History of the Catacombs
Catacombs of San Gennaro
These catacombs are divided into two layers. The original start of the tomb was around 2 AD and was believed to belong to a noble family who then extended the invitation to their Christian community. This original area is now known as the lower level of the tomb. The town then expanded in 4 AD, when it housed the remains of the first Patron of Naples, St. Agrippinus. The expansion is now known as the upper level of the tomb. This tomb is known for housing the remains of the most important Patron Saint of the area who is still celebrated to this day.
Catacombs of San Gaudiosus
The rich history of the catacombs continues with the Catacombs of San Gaudiosus. This set of catacombs is the second largest in Naples. The underground can be entered throught the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità. It includes many beautiful frescoes from the start of the catacombs all the way to the 17th century when artist Giovanni Balducci was tasked with painting throughout the tomb. This catacomb differed from the Catacomb of San Gennaro in that they used a draining technique which involved draining the bodies and leaning the bones before laying them to rest.
My Experience in the Upside Down
(Please tell me I’m not the only “Stranger Things” lover?)
Catacombs of San Gennaro
To start, we got our tour guide who gave us a short history prequel before leading us down the steps into the opening of the Catacombs. Oddly enough, the way they are set up, the tour starts at the oldest of the tomb areas and ends with the youngest (still ancient) areas and churches. We started in an area much like a huge room with tons of tombs dug out of the walls and ground with a centralized church in he middle. As we passed through the tombs we were awestruck with the amount of bodies it was able to house. According to our tour guide, it was estimated somewhere around 14,000 at one time! Going deeper into the underground, we saw the tomb of St. Gennaro, the most prevalent Patron Saint of Naples and who is still celebrated throughout the area to this day! We continued down to see beautiful paintings called frescoes all over the ceilings and walls of individual tombs leading into the lower level which had a series of massive hallways and another church. From there we exited to the newest church that still gets used to this day and walked a few blocks down to the next area.
Catacombs of San Gaudiosus
To enter these catacombs, you must first enter Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità. This amazing church houses many ancient relics from this ancient time period while embodying a gorgeous newer aesthetic. We started the descent from a main hall of the church and entered a small tomb with more beautiful frescoes. Going further, there were many small rooms and halls including tombs, draining rooms, and a hall dedicated to Nobles of the 17th century. The tombs of the 17th century nobility were especially interesting to me because each individual tomb had a painted depiction of the noble person as a skeleton toting the tradition wear of them in their professional setting. The coolest part however, was that the skull of the painting was their actual skull protruding from the rock. Although the original skulls are all broken so all you can see are the pieces remaining in the rock, you can still picture the protruding skulls with the eeriness of the tomb.
My Final Thoughts
Overall I would highly recommend anyone in the area to experience the Catacombs of Naples! This was a great way to dive deep into the culture and history of Naples. Going through each layer was amazing and truly a sight to see. The eery feeling walking through all the tombs was completely worth the experience and I would even dare to adventure underground to experience it all again!
Thank you for reading and happy traveling.
Date Visited: July 21, 2019
