The Catacombs

A catacomb is an underground cavern or cave. The word is used to denote the ancient underground cemeteries or resting places for the dead in the neighborhood of Rome and of several other chief cities of the Graeco-Roman world. The early view was that catacombs were originally sand or gravel pits and stone quarries from which the heathen derived their building materials and then used the resulting cavities as burial places for deceased slaves and prisoners. This view has been abandoned on the...