Catacomba di Santa Cristina

Useful Information

Location:	Piazza S.Cristina, Via Mazzini, 1, 01023 Bolsena VT. Below the Basilica Santa Cristina. (42.6434915, 11.9897215)
Open:	Basilica: Summer daily 10–12, 16–18. Winter daily 10–12, 15:30–17. Catacombs: All year Sat 11:45, Sun 16:30. [2026]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children (8-16) EUR 3, Children (0-7) free. [2026]
Classification:	Catacomb Roman Catacombs
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=30-60 min, Min=10.
Photography:	not allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Catacomba di Santa Cristina, Piazza S.Cristina, Via Mazzini, 1, 01023 Bolsena VT, Tel: +39-0761-799067.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1263	Eucharistic Miracle convinces Pope Urban IV to extend the feast of Corpus Christi to all of Christendom.

Description

Catacomba di Santa Cristina (Catacombs of Saint Christina) is named after Saint Christina of Bolsena or Christina of Tyre. According to legend she was a young girl, martyred during the persecution of Christians under Diocletian. An ancient iron gate is the entrance to the catacombs of Santa Cristina, followed by a Renaissance cave church with a stone altar on the right. The catacombs were used by the Christian community of Bolsena between the end of the 3rd and the first two decades of the 5th century. At this place the Eucharistic Miracle occurred, which convinced Pope Urban IV to extend the feast of Corpus Christi to all of Christendom.

In the Umbria region in 1263, a priest named Peter from Prague harboured doubts on the Real Presence of Christ in the Host during Mass via transubstantiation. During his pilgrimage towards Rome he prayed to be relieved of his questions. Peter said Mass at the Basilica of Santa Cristina in Bolsena: as he repeated the Words of Institution, the Host dripped the Precious Blood on his hands, and it spilled onto the corporal beneath.
Wikipedia

At Bolsena in Tuscany, Saint Christina, Virgin and Martyr.
This virgin, believing in Christ, when had broken the gold and silver idols of her father, and had distributed their fragments to the poor, she was torn to pieces by the order of the same father with lashes, and was tortured with other tortures, and thrown into the lake with a great weight of stone, but was saved by an angel. Then, under another judge, her father’s successor, she constantly endured more severe tortures; lastly behind the burning furnace, where she remained unharmed for five days, after the serpents had been overcome by the power of Christ, she completed the course of her martyrdom being pierced with arrows.
Roman Martyrology (2004)

Despite the above entry, and the various legends and artworks, and the fact that she was venerated since th 4th century, Saint Christina’s existence is poorly attested. Neither her birthday nor the year she died is known. The grave was marked with a sort of riddle †I·RQES/CP·BAT·X·M. This was interpreted as
(H)I(C) R(E)Q(UI)ES(CIT) C(OR)P(US) B(E)AT(AE) X(RISTINAE) M(ARTYRIS)
Here rests the body of the blessed martyr Cristina.
It was found in the original place of worship dedicated to the saint, the "Grotto of Santa Cristina", an underground basilica. From the 3rd to 4th century the body of the holy child was hidden here by a group of her most faithful followers. Around the 16th century the cult of the saint was revived with the construction of the Romanesque basilica on the surface. A terracotta statue of the saint during her sleep of death was made by Benedetto Buglioni between 1493 and 1497. A double staircase with a travertine balustrade leads to the lower level of the catacombs. It was built after an archaeological excavation by Giovanni Battista de Rossi and Enrico Stevenson. They claimed to have discovered the tomb of Saint Christina in the summer of 1880. The remains of Saint Christina were transferred and buried in the sarkophagus where they are today.