Catacomb
Catacombs of Priscilla
KAT-uh-koomz of prih-SIL-uh · Modern Rome, Italy (Via Salaria) · 41.9297° N, 12.5087° E
One of the oldest Christian catacombs in Rome, the Catacomb of Priscilla began as a set of underground quarries and burial chambers along the Via Salaria, likely on the estate of a Christian noble family, and grew into a vast Christian cemetery used from the late 2nd century onward. Several early popes and many martyrs were buried here, earning it the title "Regina Catacumbarum" ("Queen of the Catacombs").
Archaeology
The catacomb's Greek Chapel preserves 3rd-century frescoes generally interpreted as Old and New Testament scenes, including a fresco of the "fractio panis" (breaking of bread) widely read as an early eucharistic image. A separate fresco, dated by most scholars to the mid-to-late 3rd century, depicts a seated woman nursing an infant beside a robed male figure pointing to a star, and is frequently identified as the earliest surviving image of the Virgin Mary and Christ child — though this identification is debated among art historians.
On a modern map
Further reading
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