Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus
 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source.(June 2014) |
TheCatacombs of SaintGaudiosusare underground paleo-Christian burial sites (4th–5th century AD), located in the northern area of the city ofNaples(now Stella district).
History[edit]
Thecatacombswere probably occupied on a pre-existing Greek-Roman necropolis in the district known nowadays asRione Sanità,that was uninhabited at that time. According to tradition, it was the burial site of St Gaudiosus, a bishop arrived in Naples fromNorth Africa,due to a shipwreck.
His burial took place between 451 and 453 and the place, although was already the tomb of another bishop, St Nostriano, became an object of veneration.
The entire area of Rione Sanità was uninhabited throughout theMiddle Agesbecause of the numerous mudslides from the hill of Capodimonte which buried the area. The urbanisation of Rione Sanità began only around the sixteenth century and the catacombs returned to their original burial function. During the seventeenth century, with the construction of the basilica ofSanta Maria della Sanitàjust above the ancient church or chapel of St Gaudioso, the underground cemetery was "modernized" with profound changes in its original structure and the destruction of some of it.
After the outbreak of plague in 1656, the vast limestone caves in the valley became a huge open-air graveyard, and in the early 19th-century at the time ofJoachim Murat,numerous bones from the "mummification rooms" were moved as well as later to make space for victims of other epidemics, such as cholera of 1836.
Nowadays, only a small portion remains of the original catacombs.
Description[edit]
Access to the catacombs is in thecrypt,under the raised presbytery of the church of Santa Maria della Sanità. Her depiction is represented in a faint paleochristian fresco detached by a wall of the old church, due to a mud slide.
The icon of the Lady of Health (Santa Maria della Sanità) venerated since the 5th – 6th century, is the most ancient Marian icon in Naples, is now kept in the first right side chapel of the basilica. Many inhabitants of the neighborhood, however, believe that the church is dedicated toSt. Vincent Ferrer,because of the popular devotion to this holy Dominican and of the beautiful wooden statue of him, placed at the left of the altar.
The crypt, once a long corridor catacomb, clearly contains on the vault and on the walls, visible frescoes byBernardino Ferarepresenting stories of martyrs. The arcosolium, placed at the entrance, guards the Tomb of San Gaudioso, with a sixth-century mosaic decoration.
In the various cubicles that open along the arms of the catacombs, were located 5th – 6th century frescoes (St. Peter, among others, and San Sossio, deacon ofPozzuoli) and a mosaic dating before the late 5th century. The tufa sculpture of the dead Christ to the left of the entrance dates back at the end of the 17th century. The 17th century was for the catacombs a new period of use, especially by theDominican friars.In this era it was, in fact, still widespread the use of the drainers: stone cavities in which corpse were leaned into a fetal position, to make them lose the fluids.
The Dominican friars thought that the head was the most important part of the body as the seat of thoughts; that way, after drying, the heads were preserved, while the rest of the body was amassed in the charnel house.
During this period was also exercised a macabre practice to take the heads of the now dried corpses and lock them in the walls and painting below a body that would give some indication of the profession of the deceased. This type of burial was reserved for the wealthy classes and was later abandoned due to hygienic reasons.
Among those who received such burials were:
- DonnaSveva Gesualda (1611)[1]– princess ofMontesarchio,mother ofMaria d'Avalos
- LadyCaraccia della Cerenzia (1618)[2]
- Marco Antonio d'Aponte (also spelledde Ponte) (1624)[3]– marquis of Sant'Angelo, president/judge of the Royal Council,[4][3]member of theCouncil of Italy[5]
- Giovanni Balducci(~1630) – painter
- Diego Longobardo (1632) – magistrate[6]
- Alessandro d'Afflitto (1635)[7]
- CaptainScipione Brancaccio – baron ofAlfano,[8]Spanish army officer; fought at theBattle of White Mountain[9]
- Maria de Ponte – noblewoman[10]
-
Sveva Gesualda, 1611 -
Unknown woman (left) and Caraccia della Cerenzia, 1618 (right) -
Marco Antonio d'Aponte, 1624, (left) and Scipione Brancaccio (right)
The burial practice was banned in 1637 due to concerns over the condition of the catacombs.[7]
Curiosities[edit]
The dead were buried in small openings in the walls, but now only the skulls survived, due to the fact that the surface had been deteriorated by the humidity. Most of that skullcaps are smaller than modern human ones, maybe because of the different nutrition and the healthier way of life.
The Neapolitan actorAntonio De Curtis,known as Totò, was a native of the Rione Sanità and he was used to frequent its catacombs, where there is a fresco representing the victory of Death. This image has probably inspired Toto's poem “A’ livella”.
By the late twentieth century, the Dominican cloister adjacent to the Basilica, had become an inn that sponsors visits to the catacombs of San Gaudioso and San Gennaro. To see even the part illuminated not by the lights, during the visit, it is advisable to bring a flashlight.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Modestino, Carmine (1863).Della dimora di Torquato Tasso in Napoli negli anni 1588, 1592, 1594: discorso i, ii(in Italian).
- ^The Catacombs of San Gaudioso under The Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanità. – Naples Italy – ECTV,retrieved2022-05-17
- ^abde), Fortis (Filippo (1755).Governo politico del giureconsulto d. Filippo de Fortis.(in Italian). per Domenico Roselli.
- ^Brandolino, Thomaso (1642).Discorso del Advocato Fiscale della Vicaria per seruitio di Sua Maestà e defensione della giurisdittione di quel Tribunale [in the case of Vincenzo Laurino, accused of homicide](in Italian).
- ^Amabile, Luigi (1882).Fra Tommaso Campanella, la sua congiura, i suoi processi e la sua pazzia, con 67 poesie di fra Tommaso finoggi ignorate(in Italian).
- ^"Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanita – Napoli".portanapoli.Retrieved2022-05-17.
- ^ab"Travel to the Unknown Part of Naples, Italy || Catacombs of San Gennaro & San Gaudioso".youtube.Retrieved2022-05-15– via YouTube.
- ^Chiesa, baroni e popolo nel Cilento, 2 voll(in Italian). Ed. di Storia e Letteratura.
- ^Sessa.), Raffaelle Maria Filamondo (Bishop of (1694).Il Genio bellicoso di Napoli; memorie istoriche d'alcuni capitani celebri Napolitani, c'han militato per la Fede, per lo Ré, per la Patria nel secolo corrente... Abbellite con cinquantasei ritratti(in Italian).
- ^"Donna Sveva Gesualda e Maria de Ponte. XVII sec. d.C. Catacombe di San Gaudioso".Google Arts & Culture(in Italian).Retrieved2022-05-17.
Bibliography[edit]
- (2001).Guida d'Italia, Napoli e dintorni.Milano: Touring Club Italiano, (6ª ed.).ISBN8836519547
- Avilio, Carlo (2009). "La catacomba di San Gaudioso. Le radici sotterranee della cristianità disegnano nuove prospettive per il quartiere della Sanità", in Varriale Roberta (curated by),I sottosuoli napoletani,pp. 91–101.ISBN978-8880801030.
