Via Anapo catacombs

The Via Anapo catacombs are a set of catacombs on the via Salaria in Rome, first built in the 3rd-4th centuries and rich in wall paintings, inscriptions and sarcophagus fragments. They were discovered on 31 May 1578 when some workers digging for pozzolana witnessed a landslide, only for the complex to be lost in another landslide and rediscovered again in the early 20th century.^[1]

No bodies were found in it, probably since they had been translated to cemeteries during the 9th century. Soon after its rediscoveries it became a popular destination for pilgrims, scholars and Oratorians, the third of whom used the site to reinforce the Counter-Reformation Catholic position during the 16th century.^[2]

References

^ (in Italian) La storia del trieste-Salario, Typimedia editore, 2017, ISBN 978-88-85488-15-1.
^ (in Italian) Leonella De Santis and Giuseppe Biamonte, 'Catacomba anonima di via Anapo', in Le catacombe di Roma, Roma, Newton Compton Editori, 1997, ISBN 978-88-541-2771-5.

[1] (in Italian) La storia del trieste-Salario, Typimedia editore, 2017, ISBN 978-88-85488-15-1.

[2] (in Italian) Leonella De Santis and Giuseppe Biamonte, 'Catacomba anonima di via Anapo', in Le catacombe di Roma, Roma, Newton Compton Editori, 1997, ISBN 978-88-541-2771-5.

[1]

[2]