We learned something new on our latest trip from a guide who works in the catacombs of Saint Sebastian on the old Appian Way. The word cemetery, he explained, comes from a Greek root which means dormitory which, in turn, derives from the Greek verb for to put to sleep. To the Christian way of thinking, cemeteries are sleeping places.

The Italians have a sense of family which has been largely lost from British society, and it’s tangible in the way they bury and honour their dead. Our visits to Italy take place just before All Souls’ Day, the traditional time for remembering the dead, and we have, on more than one occasion, joined Italian families in their cemeteries as they have tidied up and refreshed the flowers. What is immediately obvious is that, in many cases, families are buried together. The wealthy even construct private chapels within the cemetery with enough space above and below ground to accommodate several generations stacked, as you can see (top right below) one on top of the other. This desire for togetherness in death was also, we discovered, the reason for the existence of the Christian catacombs below Rome, of which there are about 60. At the Catacombe San Sebastiano, the guides take you underground to the place where the bodies of Saints Peter and Paul rested for 50 years before being moved elsewhere. The early Christians created a place of worship over the spot so that they could pray close to where the Apostles were buried; and when the time came, they also chose to be laid to rest near them too.

The photos below include a fragment of a Christian sarcophagus at San Sebastian and the interior of the mausoleum of Valerius Romulus, son of the Emperor Maxentius, who died in 309 A.D. at a very young age.

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