Catacomba di Santa Mustiola

Useful Information

Location:	SP49, 53043 Chiusi SI. A1 exit Casello di Chiusi-Chianciano Terme, turn right on SP146, 3 km to Chiusi. Chiusi is a small town with very limited parking, there is a huge communal parking at the northern rim, 5 minutes walk to any location in town. (43.022359, 11.959940)
Open:	All year Sat, Sun, Hol 14:30. Reservation required. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children (6-13) EUR 3, Children (0-5) free. [2023]
Classification:	Catacomb
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Catacomba di Santa Mustiola, SP49, 53043 Chiusi SI. Il Labirinto, Cooperativa di Servizi Turistici e Culturali, Via Dante Alighieri 2 - 53040 Cetona (SI), Cell +39-348-5226337, Cell +39-338-6827859. 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

Description

Catacomba di Santa Mustiola (Catacomb of Saint Mustiola) is located at the Via Cassia, a Roman road of great importance which connected Rome with the north. Many pilgrims and other visitors of Rome came this way. If a Christian pilgrim died he was buried in niches in the tufa, and so a labyrinth of passages with graves was built over time. The catacombs have more than 200 m of passages. The arched niches are called arcuata or arcosolii in Italian and each has two or three burial places. They were closed with tiles and roof tiles.

The catacomb was named after the patron saint of the city and of the diocese. According to local lore he was buried here in the middle of the third century AD. The site also contains a small underground basilica at the entrance. According to the inscriptions bishop Lucius Petronius Destro, who died in the year 322, the exorcist Sentius Respectus, and the child Aurelius Melitius are buried here. The child died at the age of four during the fifth prayer of an Easter vigil.