The Catacombs were the underground burials used in ancient times.

For health reasons, the law of Ancient Rome prohibited people from burying their dead inside the city walls. The consular, or main, roads were flanked by stunning sepulchres of patricians, who were usually cremated and kept in urns.

The first Christians thought they should be kept ready for resurrection in underground caves dug in tuff.

The deceased were covered with two layers of fabric and deposited inside the burial recesses. This fabric would previously have been dipped in lye, to avoid contaminating the living.

The most ancient nuclei belong to the end of the II century and rumours that state that they were used as Christian hiding places during persecutions probably have little foundation since the persecutions belonged only to some phases of the Roman Empire.

There are more or less 70 Catacombs but only 5 are open to the public.