Catacombe di San Giovanni

Useful Information

Location:	Piazzale San Marziano, 3, 96100 Siracusa. In the city Siracusa, in the Chiesa e Cripta di San Marciano. (37.0767995, 15.2848558)
Open:	Mid-FEB to JUL Tue-Sun 9:30-12:30, 14:30-17:30. AUG daily 10-13, 14:30-18. SEP to OCT Tue-Sun 9:30-12:30, 14:30-17:30. NOV to mid-NOV Tue-Sun 9:30-12:30, 14:30-16:30. Mid-NOV to DEC Tue-Sun 9:30-12:30. Christmas Holidays daily 9:30-12:30, 14:30-17. Closed on 13-DEC, 23-DEC, 24-DEC, 25-DEC. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 10, Children (6-15) EUR 7, Children (0-5) free, Students (-25) EUR 7. Groups: Pilgrims EUR 4, School Pupils EUR 4. [2024]
Classification:	Catacomb
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Mariarita Sgarlata (2004): S. Giovanni a Siracusa Catacombe di Rome e d’Italia 8, Città del Vaticano 2004.
Address:	Kairós, Largo San Marciano, 3, 96100 Siracusa, Tel: +39-093164694, Cell: +39-347-5815794. E-mail: E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

39	San Marzian sent to Syracuse by St Peter to preach the Gospel.
61	Apostle Paul comes to Syracuse.
315 to 360	catacombs built.

Description

The Catacombe di San Giovanni (Catacombs of San Giovanni) are located in the city Siracusa, near the Chiesa di San Giovanni alle Catacombe. The church is dedicated to San Giovanni and San Marzian, and it actually contains the tomb of Saint Martian. The catacombs are famous for having hosted the apostle Paul, at least according to local lore. The first bishop of Syracuse preached to the first Western Christians in the adjacent Crypt of San Marziano. Martian or Marcian was sent to Syracuse in the year 39 by St Peter from Antioch to Siracusa, to preach the Gospel. Apostle Paul followed himself in 61. The catacombs were built between 315 and 360. They were in use only for about a century. In later times, it was repeatedly broken into in search of relics of saints and grave goods.

The main gallery, named decumanus maximus, is a former Greek aqueduct. Traces of this former use can be seen on the walls. The gallery provides access to the five tombs of the saints or martyrs. Those tombs are larger areas which are circular or square in shape. They are named the tombs of Eusebius, Adelfia, Antioch, and the Seven Virgins and Anonymous.

Through one of the secondary tunnels an unusual tomb is reached, an ark carved out of the rock, with a slab of rock with three holes. It is named the Refrigerium, literally "the refreshment", for the funeral banquet ceremony which was intended to "nourish" the soul of the deceased and to favour his passage to eternal life. The holes were drilled into the slab to allow the living to pour wine, milk and honey into the grave to comfort the dead.

The guided tours start at the Basilica di S. Giovanni. They include the tour through the basilica, the catacombs and crypt of St. Marcianus. The basilica is in ruins, it is roofless, only the lower part of the walls still standing. There have been numerous earthquakes which caused destuctions, but the church has been renovated more beautiful each time. One facade is Norman, the other is Baroque. But after the earthquake of 1693, a new church was built in an orthogonal position. The Crypt of San Marciano is divided into three rooms of different sizes, which over the centuries have had multiple functions including burials, devotional and liturgical practices. It is reached down a Medieval staircase. Between the stone walls there are barrel vaults supporting the ceiling, pilars show capitals from the late Byzantine era with the four evangelists, the lion and the eagle, the angel and the ox. The pilars are covered by frescoes showing Saint Lucia, Saint Marciano, Saint John the Baptist, the Virgin with the Child and apostles crowned with halos.

The city has numerous catacombs which are not open to the public. The Catacombe di S. Maria di Gesù e di Vigna Cassia (Catacombs of St. Mary of Jesus and Vigna Cassia) contains an underground cemetery used from 220 to 230 and one from 250 to 256. Both were later connected by the catacombs, hence the double name. This structure is located between Via A. Von Platen and Viale Teocrito. It was used until the 4th century.