Catacombs: word definition
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Catacombs: word definition
Catacomb, Latin CATACUMBA, Italian CATACOMBA,
subterranean cemetery composed
of galleries or passages with side recesses for
tombs. The term, of unknown origin, seems to
have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery
under the Basilica of San Sebastiano (located on
the Appian Way near Rome), which was reputed
to have been the temporary resting place of
the bodies of Saints Peter and Paul in
the last half of the 3rd century. By
extension, the word eventually came to refer to
subterranean cemeteries.
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