Overview
It is not easy to find an interpretation that all historians agree on regarding the etymology of the word "catacomb". It is, however, a fairly certain fact that the first place in history known by this name was the early Christian cemetery excavated under today's Basilica of St Sebastian Outside the Walls. The many other underground cemeteries built later in Rome and other cities then adopted the same name as this cemetery. At the time, in fact, this site was called "ad catacumbas" and through habitual use, this place name eventually came to be used to refer to Christian underground cemeteries, hence catacombs.
Not only are these the first real catacombs in history, but they also play an important devotional role: the highly venerated Saint Sebastian, tortured and martyred in 303 AD by order of the Emperor Diocletian, was buried within these tunnels and an increasingly large basilica in his memory developed over the following centuries, visited by pilgrims from all over the world.
Not only that: the Basilica of St Sebastian Outside the Walls was later included in the traditional Pilgrimage of the Seven Churches, which includes the main basilicas of the Eternal City. Not to be missed are the many works of art distributed along the aisles of the church, such as the last masterpiece by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the bust of the Salvator Mundi from 1679.
