The cemetery complex, which stands at the foot of the Aminei Hills and was once outside the city walls, is tied to the memory of the African bishop Settimius Celius Gaudiosus who reached Naples in 439 A.D. to escape from Genseric’s vandalic invasion.

The present appearance of the catacomb is greatly conditioned by the transformations the place has undergone over the ages, first of all, those related to the settlement of the Dominican Fathers in 1616.

In a mixture of interventions from different eras, it is still possible to appreciate the numerous painted or mosaic arcosolia and the many frescoed cubicula which characterize this area as one of the most important testimonies of ancient Parthenopean Christianity.