SUPPORT US
The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology has been created with the aim of protecting, conserving and improving the Christian catacombs of Italy. Our commitment is focused on the fight against the degradation of more than 150 catacomb nuclei, which due to their hypogeal characteristics are extremely fragile.
A thousand frescoes and tens of thousands of fragments of sarcophagi bear witness in the image of the faith of the first Christians: our task is to make them come to our posterity in the best possible conditions and allow them to continue talking with the faithful of all times.
Become a patron, support our activities and promote the restoration of works of art of Christian antiquity!
Progetti che puoi sostenere
Catacomb of St Valentine
Catacomb of Domitilla
WHO SUPPORTED US
Paola Droghetti Foundation onlus 2024
Restoration of the paintings in the crypt of S. Cecilia in the catacombs of S. Callisto
The Paola Droghetti onlus Foundation promoted and supported the restoration of the decorative palimpsest of the crypt of St. Cecilia in the catacombs of St. Callisto. The work was carried out by restorers Maria Gigliola Patrizi and Giovanna Prestipino and was supported by numerous analytical investigations conducted by the ISPC-CNR team, led by Loredana Luvidi.
During the public presentation, held on Wednesday 29 May 2024, at the catacomb of St. Callistus and in the presence of a large audience, the volume, published by B. Mazzei, Cantantibus organis. Il palinsesto decorativo della cripta di S. Cecilia nelle catacombe di S. Callisto, Roma 2024, Gangemi editore and broadcast a video that illustrated all the stages of the delicate restoration work.
Cantantibus organis - The restoration of the paintings of St. Cecilia
Heydar Aliyev Foundation 2022
Restoration of the paintings in the basilica of the Commodilla Catacomb
On 23 June 2022, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, presided over the opening to the public and presentation of the restorations that have been carried out over the past year under the scientific direction of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology's managers. The conservation interventions were made possible thanks to the synergy between the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, chaired by Mrs. Mehirban Aliyeva, following the new Agreement, signed on 4 March 2021 at the Pontifical Council for Culture, between the two institutions for the valorisation and restoration of this important catacomb complex.
The conservation work concerned the fresco decorations inside the 'Little Basilica'. These are: the depiction of the martyrs Felix and Adautto, located on the back wall of the room; the mural painting with the scene of Traditio Clavium, in which, next to Christ seated on the globe and surrounded by Saints Peter, Paul, Stephen, Felix and Adautto, appears the only image still legible in its entirety of the martyr Merita, who is also venerated in the cemetery complex; and the covering of the back apse, which has returned to show, thanks to the restoration carried out with laser technology, decorative elements that were previously not appreciable.
Inauguration of the restored Basilica of Commodilla
The Friends of the Holy Father 2019
Renovation work in the Basilica of the Catacomb of Domitilla
The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, thanks to the support and generosity of The Friends of the Holy Father Organisation, has been able to initiate a major interior renovation of the ancient martyrial Basilica of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, at the Roman catacombs of Domitilla.
The Association's sensitivity towards the testimonies of early Christianity made it possible to promote a new and extensive lighting system, together with the restoration of the inscription, commissioned by Pope Damasus in honour of the two military martyrs. The project culminated in the creation of a commemorative panel, containing an excerpt of the homily that Pope Gregory the Great pronounced inside the building, at the end of the 6th century, on 12 May, the day of commemoration of the two saints.
Inauguration of the Basilica of Saints Nereus and Achilleus in Domitilla
Heydar Aliyev Foundation 2016
Restoration and Renovation of the Museum of the Sarcophagi of the Catacomb of St. Sebastian
On 23 February 2016, at the headquarters of the Pontifical Council for Culture, a new Agreement was signed between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology. This Agreement represents the second stage of a fruitful and long-standing cooperation between the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology and the Foundation represented by its President, H.E. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva.
With this Agreement, the Foundation, which is attentive to the preservation and enhancement of the world's cultural and artistic heritage, decided to support the restoration of the sarcophagi and stone fragments preserved in the Museum of Sarcophagi in the Catacomb of St. Sebastian. The undertaking of restoring the sarcophagi of St. Sebastiano is a truly challenging undertaking, accompanied by a new layout that, while respecting the organisation of the materials, arranged in the two antiquaria, created using the two aisles of the Circiform Basilica, has made the collection more usable, so that visitors can perceive the stylistic and iconographic richness of the sarcophagi, conceived by Christians in the 4th century to represent their vision of existence, their faith, their aspirations and hopes, and their imagery of the afterlife.
Sarcophagi rebirth - La rinascita dei sarcofagi
Heydar Aliyev Fonadation 2012-2014
Restoration of some painted cubicles in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter
On 22 June 2012, at the headquarters of the Pontifical Council for Culture, an agreement was signed between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, regarding a grant that allowed the Holy See to restore a large number of painted cubiculae in the Roman catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter on Via Casilina. The generous gesture of the Foundation's president, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, who so sensitively wished to contribute to the enhancement of an extremely prestigious Christian archaeological site, has enabled the Commission's operators to take a step forward towards opening to the public one of the catacombs that is still little-known, but extremely important from a historical and religious point of view, so much so that since 2014, the archaeological site has become one of the artistic poles of Christian underground Rome.
Saved frescoes - The paintings in the catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter
