In the piece by Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, there is one piece of art described in the music that depicts the catacombs of Rome. Catacombs are underground tunnels in which there are many dead bodies buried. The Roman catacombs are very old, and some date back to the first century. Many of the tunnels are open to public viewing, but there are also some "lost" catacombs that have yet to be discovered. The tunnels began as a result of many people wanting to be buried as close as possible to their religious leaders. The tunnels were built around the tombs of saints to accommodate the peoples' requests. It is estimated that over 6 million bodies are buried within the catacombs.The bodies were buried rather than burned because Christians believed in the bodily resurrection of the dead.
The first catacombs built were Jewish ones, and then later came the Christian catacombs. These Christian catacombs are owned by the Roman Catholic Church. People can not tour these tunnels without special permission from the church, and that permission is not easily received. The lack of ability to tour these Christian tunnels may account for the low number of archaeological expeditions into the tunnels.
There are also some legends surrounding the catacombs in Rome. An archaeologist claims that the Holy Grail is hidden near the tomb of a martyr who is buried underneath the Basilica of San Lorenz Fuori le Mura. The Vatican has declined to let anyone search for the Holy Grail, saying that there is no base to the claims. The catacombs of St. Callixtus are said to be very important to the Christian community. In these tunnels, 16 popes were buried, along with many martyrs and Christians. The small area of the tunnels where the 16 popes are buried is sometimes referred to as the "Little Vatican".
During the historical persecution of the Christians, Christians were not allowed to openly profess their faith. They began to use symbols, and many of the symbols are found on the walls of the catacombs. These symbols include the Orante, the fish, and the monogram of Christ. The Roman catacombs are the most widely known, but there are catacombs located in other areas of the world as well. There have been underground burial tunnels found in Naples, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The tombs were not only used for burial purposes, but also for religious meetings.
Reanna,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. The Catacombs must certainly be creepy. It turns out both Roman and Paris have them, and the one's that Hartmann painted were of Paris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris
It turns out, that there are many cities with Catacombs:
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Austria – Catacombs of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
Australia – Catacombs of Trinity College, Melbourne University
Czech Republic – Catacombs of Znojmo
Egypt – Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (or Kom al Sukkfa, Shuqafa, etc.) in Alexandria
England – Catacombs of London and others
France – Catacombs of Paris. These were built starting the end of the 18th century, and had no religious purpose, apart from storing the bones of overflowing graveyards.
Ukraine – Odessa Catacombs
Italy – Catacombs of Rome; Catacombs of Naples; Capuchin catacombs of Palermo and others
Malta – Rabat Catacombs[4]
Peru – Catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco, Lima
Spain – Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada
Slovenia – Catacombs of Huda Jama near Laško and others
Being Catholic and reading about the Vatican and Catacombs is very interesting. I appreciate you researching this and sharing it with us. It has helped me to understanding why it is so difficult to so the "Little Vatican".
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Lita on this one.. Being catholic and reading this passage was really informational and new. I wouldve never thought the first Catacombs were Jewish ones and then the next were followed by Christian ones. This blog really caught my eyes. The pictures that are shown are unbelievable, i wonder how long it took for them to finish this process?
ReplyDeleteSeth, I looked into figuring out maybe how long it would take to construct a Catacomb. But there wasn't any cite that said an estimated time it would take.
DeleteHowever, the Catacombs in Rome were usually about 4 stories deep dug into volcanic type rock. This rock, is said to be soft and then harden once it is exposure to air increases so they wouldn't be actually mining into rock. None the less, it would still take a long time to build an underground burial place that is roughly 4 stories tall and 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft).