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The Catacomb of Sant' Ermete or Catacomb of Bassilla is a catacomb on the former via Salaria in Rome, now sited in the Pinciano district on via Berolini.

The earliest name is after Bassilla, possibly the owner of the land on which it was built between 200 and 250, possibly the martyr recorded on 22 September in the Depositio martyrum who had died in Diocletian's persecution in 304, or possibly two people both named Bassilla. 'Sant' Ermete' links it to saint Hermes, the best known martyr buried in the catacomb. The earliest sources make it the burial site of the martyrs Bassilla, Hermes and Protus and Hyacinth, all confirmed by inscriptions excavated from the catacomb and now in the Museo Pio Cristiano. Catalogues for medieval pilgrims add Crispus, Ercolanus, Leopardus, Victor and Maximilian or Maximus, but details of these extra saints' lives and deaths remain uncertain, confused and almost non-existent and no tomb monuments to them have been found in the catacomb. The Notitia ecclesiarum urbis Romae, also for pilgrims, attests to the existence of a basilica dedicated to Bassilla, of which all trace is lost.

It was one of the first catacombs to be rediscovered, when in 1576 the Jesuits were building a college for their students on its site. Antonio Bosio explored and studied it in December 1608. Recent excavations have uncovered a semi-hypogeum basilica with Hermes, Protus and Hyacinth's original grave sites and a medieval oratory, the latter of which suggests a monastery at the site, though this is unmentioned in the written sources.

References

1. (in Italian) Maddalena Marrucci an Mariangela Summa, 'CONSIDERAZIONI SULLA SALARIA VETUS ALLA LUCE DEI RITROVAMENTI DI VIA G. PUCCINI E VIALE G. ROSSINI (ROMA)', in Bollettino di Archeologia online, III, n. 3-4, MiBAC - Direzione generale per le Antichità, 2012
2. (in Italian) Carletti C., Iscrizioni cristiane inedite del cimitero di Bassilla “ad S. Hermetem”, in Memorie della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 8, II, 1976

Bibliography (in Italian)

• De Santis L. - Biamonte G., Le catacombe di Roma, Newton & Compton Editori, Roma 1997
• De Rossi G. B., La cripta dei SS. Proto e Giacinto nel cimitero di S. Ermete presso la Salaria Vetere, in Bollettino di Archeologia Cristiana, Serie V, 4 (1894) 5-34