Description
Beneath the Rione Sanità, the Catacombs of San Gennaro tie Naples to its patron saint, and this guided tour takes you down into them in 45 minutes. The guide explains why the city feels so close to San Gennaro, and the ticket also helps fund the district's regeneration.
The visit moves through the main spaces of this early Christian site:
- the underground basilica of St Agrippinus, enlarged in the 4th century once his remains had been moved there
- the baptismal font ordered by Bishop Paul II, who found refuge here in the 8th century, in the years of the iconoclast struggles
- the upper catacomb, frescoed in the 3rd century in what is called the Pompeian style, which keeps some of the first Christian paintings
- the Crypt of the Bishops, whose 5th-century mosaics include Bishop Quodvultdeus of Carthage
Byzantine paintings from the 9th and 10th centuries add to the picture.
Afterwards you receive a pass, valid for twelve months, for two more sites to see later on your own: the Basilica di Santa Maria della Sanità and the Catacombs of San Gaudioso. A guide and the entry ticket are included, but not hotel transfers. The ticket holds for the booked slot alone, late arrivals cannot join a later tour, and it is not refundable.