Underground Naples: the catacombs of San Gaudioso

The Catacombs of San Gaudioso, in the Sanità district, are very similar to the Catamcombs of San Gennaro. In fact, they are considered the second most important Paleochristian cemeterial area in Napoli. 

The catacombs of San Gaudioso are in piazza Sanità 14, next to the San Gennaro’s ones.

To reach it, take the 168, 178, C63, or the R4 line bus that leaves from the MANN (Museum) and get off at the Basilica Incoronata-Catacombe San Gennaro bus stop. 

The Catacombs of San Gaudioso were named after an African bishop who came to Napoli in the 5th century. When San Gaudioso died, he was buried in this cemeterial area in Napoli and his tomb became a place of worship among Neapolitan people. So the area begun expanding until it became a Paleochristian underground cemetery. 

The catacombs were abandoned during the Late Middle Ages due to the Lave delle Vergini, that is mud and debris, that blocked the entrance. The site was eventually opened again in the 16th century as the Madonna della Sanità (Health Virgin Mary) fresco was found. It is the most ancient fresco illustrating the Virgin Mary.

The entrance to the catacombs of San Gaudioso is under the main altar inside the Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità (Saint Mary of Health Cathedral). Once you enter the site you will see many noble tombs, mosaics and elements of the Paleochristian era, frescoes illustrating both who is buried down there and the lives of the martyrs. 

Here you can see the scolatoi (drainage surfaces), that are holes in the rocks where the corpses  of noble people were placed to drain the fluids out of the bodies before desiccation. This procedure was called “draining ritual”. After that, the skull was taken and put in the wall; then, right under it, a painter used to make a fresco illustrating the body with details about the job and the title of the dead.

The person who used to perform the draining ritual was called “schiattamuorto”, a local dialect word that still indicates an undertaker. 

The famous poem “A livella” by Totò was inspired by the catacombs of San Gaudioso; in fact it deals with death and dead people.

The paths through the catacombs of Napoli are high and wide so you won’t feel oppressed.

But still they are closed underground paths so those who suffer from claustrophobia may feel anxious.