Catacombs - Around The World

Around The World

Catacombs in the world include:

• Austria – Catacombs of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
• Australia – Catacombs of Trinity College, Melbourne University
• Czech Republic – Catacombs of Znojmo
• Egypt – Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (or Kom al Sukkfa, Shuqafa, etc.) in Alexandria
• England – Catacombs of London and others
• France – Catacombs of Paris. These were built starting the end of the 18th century, and had no religious purpose, apart from storing the bones of overflowing graveyards.
• Ukraine – Odessa Catacombs
• Italy – Catacombs of Rome; Catacombs of Naples; Capuchin catacombs of Palermo and others
• Malta – Rabat Catacombs
• Peru – Catacombs of the Convento de San Francisco, Lima
• Spain – Catacombs of Sacromonte in Granada
• Slovenia – Catacombs of Huda Jama near Laško and others

There are also catacomb-like burial chambers in Anatolia, Turkey; in Sousse, North Africa; in Naples, Italy; in Syracuse, Italy; Trier, Germany; Kiev, Ukraine. Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily were used as late as 1920s. Catacombs were available in some of the grander English cemeteries founded in the 19th Century, such as Sheffield General Cemetery (above ground) and West Norwood Cemetery (below ground). There are catacombs in Bulgaria near Aladzha Monastery and in Romania as medieval underground galleries in Bucharest.

In Ukraine and Russia, catacomb (used in the local languages' plural katakomby) also refers to the network of abandoned caves and tunnels earlier used to mine stone, especially limestone. Such catacombs are situated in Crimea and the Black Sea coast of these two countries. The most famous are Odessa Catacombs and Ajimushkay, Crimea, Ukraine. In the early days of Christianity, believers conducted secret worship services in these burial caves for safety and reverence for the dead. Later, they served as bases for Soviet World War II guerrillas (see also Great Patriotic War). Ajimushkay catacombs hosted about 10,000 fighters and refugees. Many of them died and were buried there, and memorials and museums were later established (it is now a territory of Kerch city).