Catacombs

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(For the Bronze Age culture, see Catacomb culture)

(For the computer game series, see Catacomb 3D)

Image:Paris catacombes.jpg Image:Catacombe 1.jpg Image:Catacombe 2.jpg The original catacombs are a network of underground burial galleries near San Sebastiano fuori le mura, in Rome. The word now refers to any network of caves, grottos, or subterranean place that is used for the burial of the dead, or it can refer to a specific underground burial place. Famous examples are:

Catacombs of Rome in Italy
Catacombs of Paris in France
Catacombs of Kom el Shuqafa in Alexandria, Egypt
Catacombs of Malta on the Mediterranean island of Malta
Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada, Spain.
Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Italy.
Catacombs of Lima in Peru.

catacumbæ, from the phrase caca tombs (among the tombs), through metathesis and with attraction of -cumbere (to lie), from Greek κατα (down) and ultimately from Greek τυμβος (tomb) (1).

There are also catacomb-like burial chambers in Anatolia, Turkey; in Susa, North Africa; in Naples, Italy; in Syracuse, Italy; Trier, Germany; Kiev, Ukraine. Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily were used as late as 1920s.

In Ukraine and Russia, catacomb (used in the local languages' plural katakomby) also refers to the network of abandoned caves and tunnels earlier used to mine stone, especially limestone. Such catacombs are situated in Crimea and the Black Sea coast of these two countries. The most famous are catacombs beneath Odessa and Ajimushkay, Crimea, Ukraine. In the early days of Christianity, believers conducted secret worship services in these burial caves for safety and reverence for the dead. Later, they served as bases for Soviet World War II guerrillas (see also Great Patriotic War). Ajimushkay catacombs hosted about 10.000 fighters and refugees. Many of them died and were buried there, and memorials and museums were later established (it is now a territory of Kerch city).