Jewish Catacombs

About the Jewish Catacombs Walk in Rome

The Jewish Catacombs of Vigna Randanini were discovered in the 19th century on the Appian way. They are one of seven known complexes utilized for Jewish burials. Today they are closed to the public and may only be visited with special permission. These catacombs, like their Christian and pagan counterparts, are a series of underground burial galleries with tombs carved into the soft volcanic stone of the area.

The deceased were interred in painted loculi, cubicula, and kokhim. The presence of the kokhim set these catacombs apart from Rome's pagan and Christian catacombs. They were deep chambers in which the deceased would be buried perpendicular to the wall. The openings were sealed with marble epitaphs. The Vigna Randanini complex is also novel for wide corridors, its predominance of Latin and Greek inscriptions and absence of Hebrew and Aramaic.