Catacombs

Catacombs

The first burial galleries to be referred to as "catacombs" lie beneath San Sebastiano fuori le mura, in Rome. The derivation of the word itself is disputed and it remains unclear if it ultimately derives from the cemetery itself or from the locality in which it is found. There is no doubt however that the San Sebastiano catacombs are the first to be referred to as such.

The word now refers to any network of caves, grottos, or subterranean place that is used for the burial of the dead, or it can refer to a specific underground burial place.

Famous examples include:
* Catacombs of Rome in Italy.
* Catacombs of Paris in France.
* Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (or "Kom al Sukkfa", "Shuqafa", etc.), in Alexandria, Egypt.
* Maltese Catacomb Complexes in Rabat, Malta. [cite web |url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1113/ |title=Maltese Catacomb Complexes |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |accessdate=2008-04-17 ]
* Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada, Spain.
* Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, in Italy.
* Catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco in Lima, Peru.
* Catacombs of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria.
* Catacombs of St. Mary's Knockbeg College in Carlow, Ireland.
* Catacombs of Edinburgh in Scotland.
* Catacombs of London in England.

There are also catacomb-like burial chambers in Anatolia, Turkey; in Sousse, North Africa; in Naples, Italy; in Syracuse, Italy; Trier, Germany; Kiev, Ukraine. Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily were used as late as 1920s. Catacombs were popular in England in the 19th Century, and can be seen in many of the grand cemeteries of the time, such as Sheffield General Cemetery.

In Ukraine and Russia, catacomb (used in the local languages' plural "katakomby") also refers to the network of abandoned caves and tunnels earlier used to mine stone, especially limestone. Such catacombs are situated in Crimea and the Black Sea coast of these two countries. The most famous are catacombs beneath Odessa and Ajimushkay, Crimea, Ukraine. In the early days of Christianity, believers conducted secret worship services in these burial caves for safety and reverence for the dead. Later, they served as bases for Soviet World War II guerrillas (see also Great Patriotic War). Ajimushkay catacombs hosted about 10,000 fighters and refugees. Fact|date=October 2007 Many of them died and were buried there, and memorials and museums were later established (it is now a territory of Kerch city).

References

* [http://www.subbrit.org.uk/ Subterranea Britannica] (Subterranea Britannica)

See also

*Cemetery
*Crypts
*Necropolis
*Urban Exploration

External links

* [http://www.catacombs.explographies.com The Catacombs of Paris]
* [http://www.catacombe.org The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian]
* [http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Subterranea/Catacombs.html Catacombs]
* [http://www.catacombe.roma.it/index.html The Catacombs of Saint Callist]
* [http://www.yorkshire-guide.co.uk/sheffieldgeneralcemetery.aspx Catacombs in Sheffield General Cemetery]


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