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The Large Catacomb (Italian - catacomba maggiore) is a catacomb on the via Nomentana in the modern Trieste quarter of Rome. It is first mentioned in the 5th century Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which records that those martyred on 16 September were buried "in the large cemetery" (“in cimiterio maiore”) on via Nomentana, the name it also appears as in high medieval pilgrim itineraries.

History

Originating around the middle of the 3rd century, the catacomb was initially divided into two separate nuclei with two independent access stairways, now near the present-day entrance in via Asmara. Surveys carried out above ground have uncovered a rural Roman villa which was turned into a cemetery as soon as it was abandoned, initially with semi-underground burials and then in the 3rd century by digging an underground cemetery. At the end of that century the two sections were merged, turning the single cemetery into the biggest catacomb in Rome, which remained in use until the first half of the 5th century. High Medieval pilgrims' itineraries mention an above ground basilica dedicated to Saint Emerentiana and two undeground burial chambers by then converted into sanctuaries dedicated to Saint Victor and Saint Alexander.

It was first rediscovered in 1493 by Augustinian monks from Santa Maria del Popolo, which owned the land in which it fell until 1870. Antonio Bosio managed to penetrate the cemetery early in the 17th century and mentioned it in his posthumous book Roma sotterranea, though he confused it with the neighbouring catacomb of Sant'Agnese, to which it was linked by an ancient sandstone quarry. In the 18th century it and many other catacombs in Rome were badly damaged by relic-hunters. The first modern studies of the catacomb began in the 19th century, laying the foundations for those by the priest Umberto Maria Fasola in the 20th century.

Martyrs

The entry for 16th September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum records the martyrs Victor, Felix, Alexander, Papia and Emerentiana being buried in the catacomb. Nothing is known of the lives or martydoms of Victor, Felix and Alexander, though they appear again on 20 April. Emerentiana also appears on 23 January, where it states that she was stoned to death near the tomb of the virgin Agnes, to whom she was a "foster sister", and was buried in the cemetery neighbouring that of Agnes.

Description

Bibliography (in Italian)

• De Santis L. - G. Biamonte, Le catacombe di Roma, Newton & Compton Editori, Roma 1997, pp. 206–214
• Testini P., Archeologia Cristiana, Edipuglia, 1980
• Armellini M., Scoperta della cripta di S. Emerenziana e di una memoria relativa alla cattedra di S. Pietro nel cimitero Ostriano, Roma 1877
• Josi E., Coemeterium Maius, in Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 10 (1933) 7-16
• Fasola U. M., La regione delle cattedre nel Cimitero Maggiore, in Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana 37 (1961) 237-267

• Catacombs of Rome
• Rome Q. XVII Trieste

• Draft articles