1. Library
2. Sites
3. Catacombs of San Callisto (Callixtus)

Catacomb

Catacombs of San Callisto (Callixtus)

KAT-uh-koomz of san kah-LEES-toh · Modern Rome, Italy (Via Appia Antica) · Also called Catacombs of San Callisto, Catacombs of Callixtus · 41.8586° N, 12.5106° E

The largest of Rome's underground Christian cemeteries, the Catacomb of Callixtus became the official burial ground of the Roman church in the early 3rd century, after Pope Zephyrinus placed the future Pope Callixtus I, then a deacon, in charge of enlarging and administering it. Its "Crypt of the Popes" became the principal burial chamber for the bishops of Rome for much of the 3rd century, reflecting the young church's growing institutional organization within a generation or two of the last apostles.

Archaeology

Excavation and identification of the site is credited to the 19th-century archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi, who in 1854 rediscovered the long-lost Crypt of the Popes and confirmed, through inscriptions, the burial there of nine popes and several bishops who served between roughly AD 230 and 283. The catacomb complex spans four levels and roughly 15-20 kilometers of galleries. Relics were largely translated to churches within the city walls by the 9th century, after which the catacombs were abandoned until de Rossi's rediscovery.