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The Catacombs of St Sebastian: the place that gave its name to underground cemeteries
The term "catacomb" was born here, at the third mile of the Appia Antica. Ad catacumbas ("near the hollows") was the name of this area, where a deep depression had been created by the underlying pozzolana quarries. This term was extended to all Christian underground cemeteries, which began to be called catacombs. The tunnels of the Catacombs of St Sebastian stretch for approximately 12 km.
The Memoria Apostolorum and the 600 bits of graffiti
Around 250 AD, during the Decian persecutions, tradition has it that the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul were temporarily moved here. The site became known as the Memoria Apostolorum, and the Triclia was built—a porticoed courtyard whose walls preserve over 600 pieces of graffiti with invocations to the two apostles, in Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic. It is one of the most significant epigraphic sites of early Christianity.
From the Constantinian basilica to Scipione Borghese
In the 4th century, a circus-shaped basilica with three naves was built over the Triclia: it had a rectangular floor plan with a semicircle on one of the short sides, typical of Early Christian architecture. In the 8th century, it was dedicated to St Sebastian, a martyr killed under Diocletian. The current form dates back to the restoration by Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the early 1600s, who partially reused the structure of the original building.
