Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Catacomba di San Gennaro
( 081 744 37 14;
www.catacombedinapoli.it
;
Via di Capodimonte 13; adult/reduced
€8/5, incl entry to Catacomba di San Gaudioso; 1hr tours every hr 10am-5pm Mon-
Sat, to 1pm Sun; R4 to Via Capodimonte)
Recently extended thanks to an ongoing,
community-based restoration project, Naples' oldest and most sacred catacomb became a
Christian pilgrimage site when San Gennaro's body was interred here in the 5th century.
It's an evocative otherworld of tombs, corridors and broad vestibules, its treasures includ-
ing 2nd-century Christian frescoes, 5th-century mosaics and the oldest known portrait of
San Gennaro.
You'll find three types of tombs in here, each reflecting a different social class. The
wealthy opted for the open-room
cubiculum
, originally guarded by gates and adorned
with colourful wall frescoes. One
cubiculum
to the left of the entrance features an espe-
cially beautiful funerary fresco of a mother, father and child. In actual fact, you're looking
at three layers of frescoes, one commissioned for each death. The smaller, rectangular
wall niches, known as
loculum
, were the domain of the middle classes, while the
forme
(floor tombs) were reserved for the poor.
Further ahead you'll stumble upon the so-called
basilica minore
(minor basilica), home
to the tombs of San Gennaro and 5th-century Archbishop of Naples, Giovanni I. Some-
time between 413 and 431, Giovanni I accompanied the martyr's remains from Pozzuoli
to Naples, burying them here before Lombard prince Sico I of Benevento snatched them
in the 9th century. The
basilica minore
also harbours fragments of a fresco depicting
Naples' first bishop, Sant'Aspreno. The city's bishops were buried in this catacomb until
the 11th century.
Close to the basilica minore is a 3rd- century tomb whose Pompeiian-hued artwork em-
ploys both Christian and pagan elements. In the image of three women building a castle,
the figures represent the three virtues, while the castle symbolises the Church.
The catacomb's recently opened lower level is even older, dating back to the 2nd cen-
tury and speckled with typically pagan motifs like fruit and animals. The painting on the
side of San Gennaro's tomb - depicting the saint with Mt Vesuvius and Mt Somma on his
shoulders - is the first known image of San Gennaro as the protector of Naples. Also on
the lower level is the Basilica di Agrippino, named in honour of Sant'Agrippino. The
sixth bishop of Naples, Agrippino was also the first Christian to be buried in the cata-
comb, back in the 3rd century.
Tours of the catacomb are run by the
Cooperativa Sociale Onlus 'La Paranza'
CATACOMB
081 744 37 14;
www.catacombedinapoli.it
;
Via Capodi-
