Le Catacombe di San Gennaro a Napoli

About this activity

Discover the thousand-year-old monument to Neapolitan religiosity: the Catacombs of Naples, located in the Rione Sanità, where miraculous healings occurred in the 15th century. Used as burial grounds, Hellenistic hypogea and fascinating early Christian catacombs were built here; only a few have been unearthed including the Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso.

The Catacombs of San Gennaro

A place of pilgrimage until the late 9th century, they are considered the most important monument of Christianity in Naples as well as a historical testimony to the close bond of faith between the city and its patron saint San Gennaro.

A bishop and martyr, he was had killed by Emperor Diocletian, persecutor of Christians, because he would not deny his faith. Three times a year Neapolitans await the famous miracle: the melting of his auspicious blood for the city.

The original core of the Catacombs of San Gennaro dates back to the second century AD. It probably belonged to a noble family that donated the space to the Christian community. In the 4th century AD it began to be expanded with the deposition of remains and the creation of the underground basilica of St. Agrippinus, first patron saint of Naples. It was excavated in a single nave in the tufa: we can still admire a bishop's chair carved out of the rock and the altar through which the faithful could see and touch the saint's tomb. In the 5th century the relics of St. Gennaro were transferred here and have been consecrated in his name ever since. The Crypt of the Bishops, for the city's bishops, and the majestic three-aisled Basilica Adijecta were then built.

In 2009, in collaboration with the All in School Onlus architectural barriers at the site were broken down by building walkways and ramps. It is the only site in the world of its kind that is fully accessible and not only for people in wheelchairs: thanks to collaboration with the SAAD (University Service for the Activities of Students with Disabilities) of theSuor Orsola Benincasa University and the social cooperative Iron Angels the wonderful project was born Naples in the Hands, a real path for blind and visually impaired visitors with tactile exploration on metal plates reproducing details of the place.