Anne lee greene catacombs italy

In the collective imagination, catacombs are places full of mystery and fascination because of their underground location, which makes them unique in their kind. 

Catacombs, in fact, are ancient Christian cemeteries dug underground in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD and consists of long, narrow, low tunnels called ambulacra in whose walls tombs or loculi were dug.

Catacombs are almost always decorated with frescoes depicting episodes from the Old and New Testaments but also with subjects taken from pagan myths and everyday life.

The walls are often marked with inscriptions, symbols and signs, and the tombs are engraved with the deceased's name, age and date of death.

Throughout Italy, from north to south, there are important catacombs: in Veneto at Concordia Sagittaria, in the province of Venice, where mostly deceased military personnel are buried; in Emilia Romagna near Ravenna the catacombs of San Severo, Sant'Apollinare, Probo and Eleucadio; in