The Hidden History of the Catacombs of Rome

Dr. G! A tale to amuse you... During WWII the Germans bombed the crap out of Malta and when I worked there, my Scottish boss who had married a Maltese, told me that during the Siege of Malta, his wife's father - a kid at the time - helped his family delve a deep bomb shelter down into the friable limestone of the island, as so many did. Then, this kid and his sister, digging away one afternoon, broke into a vast subterranean space. They told no one about it, but explored it with candles and lamps and then, having disguised the entranceway they had created from the adults, would retreat into it during the heaviest bombardments. They even brought in chairs and a table to play chequers on. What they had found was the ancient Neolithic megalithic temple of Tarxien, now a major tourist attraction. I think of it still. Two kids deep underground in a temple built over 5,000 years ago, playing chequers in absolute stillness by candlelight while the Luftwaffe raids roared overhead demolished Renaissance palazzi, medieval fortresses, Roman villas with only a handful of Spitfires to fight them off.

I’m with editor on this one… I wanna know about the lightening strike thing!

I’ve been to the catacombs of Rome and the underground city in Orvieto. They are mind blowing. The day that we visited the Santa Domatilla catacombs there was a group of Slovakian pilgrims who were having a worship service in the catacombs. They sang old Gregorian chants. It was an opportunity to get a tiny idea of what it might have been like for worshippers who were burying their dead.

In The Netherlands there was this rich dude in the early 1900's who was so fascinated by the roman catacombs that he ordered a replica to be made in the old lime stone quarries of Limburg. Of course it is not the real deal, but it is rather convincing and was nevertheless entertaining to see.

I’m actually so glad I bought your book. Your writing style is great and the subjects you cover are amazingly interesting.

I was supposed to go with my dad to rome this spring or this autumn.. It would've been my first time visiting the city and i had made a bit of list of places to visit, maimly based on your videos... Although ironic now, we for sure would've toured the catacombs May he rest in peace

The horrors of just stumbling around in the dark for days in a catacomb

There are tons of catacombs all over Latium; my moms family is from Latina and Cisterna di Latina, and the latter also has catacombs under a palace built in the 1500s. Nearby was a place called “tres tabernae”, which are the remnants of a Roman roadside “diner”.

Amazingly, the sponsor is spot-on matching here and not annoying at all. Well done!

I know it's somewhat common to call the Roman volcanic layers "Tufa." However, Tufa suggests that the beds are layers of a limestone-esque carbonate rock (see examples such as the Trona Pinnacles). What is actually surrounding Rome is Tuff, a consolidated volcanic rock comprised of lithified ash. Not sure exactly where the catacombs are, but I'd guess it's in the Villa Senni Tuff Unit, since it's the thickest of the three tuff layers, and it underlies the anthropogenic (ruins, etc) layers on top. Love all your videos! As a geologist I don't get a chance to weigh-in on history videos, just wanted to make a distinction between the two rock types.

Thank you for doing this fella! Awesome as always.

Loving your videos man!

AHHH! I've been waiting for an ancient funeral practices video from you! This is awesome!

Excellent background on the underground, really lays bare the scope and scale of Rome as the earliest metropolis. Amazing history, thank you!

Glad to see you! I forgot to check your channel for a few weeks. . . A bit odd YouTube never notifies when you upload

I was in the Catacomb of Santa Domitilla a week ago. This is an interesting video to watch afterwards as it goes over the same topic, and provides more information.

Fantastic Video, Thank You.

I've always loved that fresco called 'Cubiculum of the Veiled Woman.' the middle image of the woman with the outstretched arms is 🔥 I often wonder if this is a depiction similar to how an early Christian teacher like Marcellina would've been remembered. Great work, Garrett 👏

I also tend to use a bottle of perfume or two to disguise my own decay.

Thank you. Interesting and informative.