Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus

The Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus are the second-largest early Christian cemetery in Naples, Italy, built beneath the Basilica of Santa Maria della Sanita in the Rione Sanita district. Dating to the 4th-5th century AD, they expanded after the burial of Bishop Septimius Celius Gaudiosus, a North African cleric exiled by Vandal King Genseric for refusing conversion to Arianism, who died in Naples between 451-453 AD. The central ambulatory stretches 30 m long with 13 burial cubicles. Notable artworks include 5th-century frescoes with Christian symbols, a scene of Apostle Peter introducing the deceased Pascentius, and a 9th-century Byzantine Madonna rediscovered in 1991. Sealed in the medieval period and forgotten, they were rediscovered in the 16th century and reused for aristocratic burials, featuring the distinctive "draining" desiccation ritual.