photo credit: Irving Spitz
Posted on 11/30/2022 9:24:45 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The vast majority of catacombs represent the final resting places of Christians, but there are also several of Jewish origin. One of these is situated in the gardens of the Villa Torlonia in the northeast of Rome. This villa was built in the first half of the 19th century for the wealthy banking Torlonia family. In 1929 it was taken over by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. After his death in 1945, the villa and the gardens remained unused for many years, but have now been restored and are open to the public.
In 1918, while conducting alterations in the very extensive gardens, workers stumbled on ancient catacombs...
The long narrow passageways are surrounded on both sides by multiple levels of niches, or loculi, carved out of the rock. These loculi extend from the ceiling to the floor.
Bodies were placed in these niches which were then sealed with rubble and bricks and then coated over with a layer of lime. In addition there is also a geniza, a depository where holy documents were deposited. These catacombs are extensive, extending for more than 13,000 square meters with over 1,000 meters of galleries on the two floors. To access them, one has to descend a series of stairs.
The main interest in these catacombs is the plethora of beautiful colored frescos on the walls and part of the vaulted ceilings. These represent characteristic iconographic Jewish symbols and many are in an excellent state of preservation. These include the seven-branched menora, shofar, ark with the law tablets, etrog, lulav, circumcision knife, cruse of oil and matzot. There are also depictions which may possibly represent the façade of the Temple destroyed... by [future emperor] Titus.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
Jews in Italy had a nice life, even after Mussolini’s rise, it was only after Hutker and his gangs influenced Mussolini to persecute them that things changed.
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