Catacombe di San Gaudioso

Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus

Useful Information

Location:	Via Sanità, 123, 80136 Napoli. Inside the Basilica Santa Maria della Sanità, beneath the main altar. (40.8594641, 14.2485744)
Open:	All year Min-Tue, Thu-Sun, Hol 10-17, last entry 17. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 13, Children (6-17) EUR 6, Children (0-5) free, Students EUR 9, Seniors EUR 9, Disabled free. Tickets also valid for Catacombe di San Gennaro. [2024]
Classification:	Catacomb
Light:	LED Lighting
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Catacombe di Napoli, Via Capodimonte, 13, 80136 Napoli, Tel: +39-081-744-37-14, Fax: +39-081-744-37-14. E-mail:
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

451-453	St. Gaudiosus buried in the catacombs.
9th century	remains of the Saints relocated.
9th century	catacombs lost due to landslides.
16th century	rediscovered and used as a cemetery for the nobles and clergy.
17th century	again lost.
1991	fresco of Saint Mary rediscovered.
2009	LED light system installed by the Officina dei Talenti, a cooperative of young people from Rione Sanità.
2011	fresco restored.
2017	catacombs restored.
2018	opened to the public.

Description

The Catacombe di San Gaudioso (Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus) are located below the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità. They are considered the second most important early Christian cemetery of Naples. Actually the whole valley, which is today one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Naples, was once a necropolis and burial ground. The quarter is called Rione Sanità (health district), which is quite strange for a graveyard. The reasons are miracles which were attributed to the Saints which were buried in the catacombs. The valley has a total of nine catacomb complexes, four of them, San Gennaro, San Gaudioso, San Severo and Fontanelle ossuary have been unearthed.

Septimius Celius Gaudiosus was also known as Gaudiosus of Naples or Gaudiosus the African, because he was the bishop of Abitina in Tunisia. He died between 451 and 453 AD, and as he originated from Naples his body was returned, and he was buried in a cemetery which was outside the city walls of Naples at that time. Soon the underground cemetery began to arouse devotion and was expanded. The oldest part of the catacombs was built in this time, between the 4th and 6th century. The graves show frescoes and mosaics from this time, with typical symbols that were widely used in the early Christian era, such as the fish, the lamb, and grapes with branches. But the catacombs were abandoned, because the remains of San Gennaro were stolen by Prince Sicone I, who brought them to Benevento. In the 9th century the remains of St. Severus and St. Gaudiosus were relocated inside the walls of Naples. Entrances were closed by later modifications, by the construction of the Basilica, or by mudslides called Lave dei Vergini.

The catacombs were again used as a burial site during the 16th and 17th century. A fresco of the Madonna della Sanità, which was concealed by mud, was rediscovered. It is the oldest depiction of the Virgin Mary in the Campania. As a result, the nobles and clergy were now buried in the catacombs. But the way this was done was new: the skulls were placed on display in the walls of the ambulatory, the rest of the body was painted as a fresco, with the clothes and professional instruments. The corpses were placed in niches so that they would lose their fluids. Those niches were called cantarelle, from the Greek canthàrus, because of the vessel which was placed under the body to collect the body fluids during the draining process. Afterwards the bones were washed and laid to rest.

After the catacombs were lost again, the famous fresco was accidentally rediscovered in 1991, and after a campaign to collect money was restored in 2011. In 2017, the rest of the catacombs were restored, including the early frescoes, the majolica floor tiles, and the 17th century tombs.