The Jewish Catacombs of Vigna Randanini are located in the side of a hill between the Via Appia Antica and the Via Appia Pignatelli in Rome.
These catacombs, discovered in 1859, reused a pagan building to which a vaulted roof and a mosaic floor with black and white tiles were added.
The hypogeum consists of two main galleries, divided into various branches.
There are niches dug into the walls, cubicles with arcosolia and some oven tombs (kokhim). The catacombs have a system of tunnels and tunnels that extend over an area of 18,000 m².
The galleries, rather large, are located at a depth of about 10 m and extend for a total length of about 700 m, today partly accessible on foot. Indicating a precise dating for these catacombs is very difficult, but the paintings and remains found date back to the end of the 2nd and 4th centuries AD.
Inside, 195 inscriptions in Greek and Latin were discovered, some are engraved on marble slabs, others painted or graffitied on the mortar.
The handwriting is poorly done, with spelling and grammatical inaccuracies which can partly be attributed to errors by the engraver.
At the time of discovery many epigraphs were in the backfill and in a fragmentary state, the epigraphic heritage must have originally been more copious.
In fact, the catacomb underwent a constant stripping of its furnishings already in ancient times and subsequently after the discovery in 1859 during the Second World War when the galleries were used as a refuge.
In the main gallery where in addition to the cubicle of the Menorah dated to the end of the 3rd century AD, we find the cubicle of the Palms, so called due to the presence in the four corners of the depiction of date palms, an ornamental motif in the Diaspora.
The walls are occupied by niches which have partially destroyed the rich decoration dating back to between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century AD.
In another area of the catacomb there is the cubicle of the Pegasi, in all likelihood a pagan hypogeum later incorporated into the Jewish necropolis.
The colors used in the wall frescoes are cinnabar red, green and brown.
In the center of the vault we find a winged Nike, personification of victory, holding a palm branch in her left hand and a laurel wreath in her right hand which is tending towards a young man.
Jewish Catacombs of Vigna Randanini
Address: Via Appia Pignatelli, 2, 00178 Roma Italia
Phone: 3473811874
Site:
https://www.sotterraneidiroma.it/sites/catacomba-ebraica-di-vigna-randaniniLocation inserted by
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