Catacomb of Vigna Cassia

The Catacombs of Vigna Cassia, now closed to the public, are the largest of the whole Sicily and are located in an old cemetery area near the Church of St. Mary of Jesus. The name comes from the owner of the above vineyard at the time the discovery.

The catacombs were built towards 256 AD and they consist of a community cemetery and five hypogea. The catacomb itself is divided into three regions – St. Mary of Jesus, Major or San Diego, Marcia – of which the first two belong to the third century and the latter to the fourth century. They have several traces of ancient frescoes; salvation and resurrection of the soul are the ideas symbolically expressed by the scenes which decorate two arcosoliums of the hypogeum.

Furthermore, they are also connected to the less famous catacombs of Santa Maria Jesus.

The five hypogea, intended to serve individual families or corporations, reveal a coexistence between pagans and Christians even more marked than that found in the necropolis below. In October 1997 the restoration of the paintings of the Hypogeum II were completed. This donated to the community of Siracusa images of a figurative cycle of Christian subject, one of the most precious document of the underground Siracusa’ heritage.

Guided visit only by reservation.