Latest news with #catacombs
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Exploring the catacombs which lie under Birmingham
The fact that a labyrinth of catacombs lies beneath one of the UK's biggest cities may surprise or Paris could spring to mind for their underground chambers but Birmingham? But it is true - the UK's second city once housed more than 500 bodies in large, private vaults, dug out underground and used until the middle of the 20th first location to house them opened in 1836 at Key Hill Cemetery in the city's Jewellery Quarter before nearby Warstone Lane Cemetery opened 12 years later. Tour guide Richard Beardall said, at the time, the vaults cost up to £30 - about £3,000 in today's were inspired by concepts across the continent before the British climate put an end to them in the late 1950s. "The idea for the catacombs came from Rome where the bodies would dry out and mummify but, with the British climate, the bodies would instead go mouldy and smelly," Mr Beardall said."The coffins were metal-lined and supposed to be sealed but they weren't, because they tended to explode due to the gasses that built up in them."You can imagine a small room with 10 bodies decaying in them wasn't very pleasant."The idea was to go and see granny's coffin and go to polish the brass."It was a nice idea but, due to the practicalities, people just didn't like the idea of it." The 56-year-old is the principal tour guide for the two catacombs with a voluntary group, the Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries, formed in 2004."We primarily keep the place clean and tidy, raise funds to restore headstones, as well as reconnect families with their ancestors," Mr Beardall said."The responsibility [for the cemeteries] is with the council but we work very closely with them." Describing what lies beneath the surface in Key Hill's catacomb, Mr Beardall said: "Key Hill has a long linear arrangement but with a curve at each end so look like an elongated 'S'."They are also two-tiered but the lower level is below ground level and is no longer accessible or visible."There is a small interior section in a T-shaped tunnel. This is accessible and we hold tours on our open days." In contrast, he explained Warstone Lane's catacomb was below a now-demolished church in a semi-circular arrangement, on two levels. "There would be a gate of wrought iron, possibly with glass backing and coffins would have been visible to all visitors to the cemetery," he said."Sadly these have now all been bricked up. "A number [of vaults] were full while the cemetery was in operation so the gate would have been removed and a memorial fixed to seal the opening." Both catacombs stopped being used in the late 1950s when they were no longer profitable and were bought by Birmingham City why it was important to preserve the Key Hill and Warstone Lane, Mr Beardall explained: "Key Hill is a Grade II* listed cemetery because of its age and the people that are in there."We have the major founding fathers of Birmingham in the two cemeteries. "It's important that we honour them and keep their final resting places intact."Key Hill in particular houses some famous names including Marie Bethell, claimed to be the country's first female reporter, along with Alfred Bird, the inventor of baking powder and egg-free custard and former politician Joseph Chamberlain. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
France 24
4 days ago
- France 24
Fleeing the heat, tourists explore Rome at night, underground
At a refreshing 15C, the catacombs were a popular place to hide this week as temperatures in the Eternal City reached almost 40C, while other visitors sought out evening tours and 2:00 am walks. "If we could have postponed our trip, we would have done it, but everything was already booked," said Ansari, 32, visiting Italy with her mother and an aunt. Instead, they adapted. "We booked our earliest tour starting at 7:30 am, and aim to be home before midday," she told AFP, taking refuge on a shaded stone bench near the Appian Way next to her aunt, who appeared overwhelmed by the heat. They do not venture out again before 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm, and, as in many Mediterranean countries, they pushed back their dinner time by three hours to 9:00 pm. In central Rome, Rafael Falcao also headed underground, to the Crypt of the Capuchin Friars on the Via Veneto, which he found relatively cool. He too, had to change his plans as a heatwave punishing southern Europe pushed up Rome's already high August temperatures. "Yesterday, we rented a small car to visit the city because it was too hot to walk," the 42-year-old Brazilian said. Patricia Kolodziej, a 41-year-old Polish woman living in Britain, said she struggled to find things to do with her toddler in the heat. But she managed to get tickets for the last entry to the Colosseum, the ancient Roman amphitheatre that's a must-see for tourists -- but which can be a furnace during the day. "We have chosen more sightseeing in the evening," Kolodziej told AFP. A few steps away, under the shadow of the Colosseum, an Asian tourist who declined to give her name, seemed close to fainting, her forehead sweating. "We came late on purpose, but it's no use," she said. Nobody out Online travel portal predicted last October that "noctourism" -- nighttime tourism -- will be one of the trends of 2025. It blamed rising temperatures due to climate change, as well as overtourism. Several Rome sites offer evening activities, including the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum which opens late at night twice a week. Tickets quickly disappear but Madison Thibert, from the US state of North Dakota, secured one, allowing her to enjoy the sight of the ancient monument bathed in moonlight. Thibert said she and her boyfriend had been exploring the city after hours, when temperatures reduce, and so do the crowds. "We just walked around, we saw the Trevi Fountain, came by the Colosseum. We took some of the scooters around on the roads," Thibert said.
Telegraph
07-06-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Art-eating fungus attacks Rome's ancient underground frescoes
A devastating infestation of microbugs is damaging the treasured underground frescoes that decorate the labyrinths of ancient catacombs beneath Rome. A vast network of tunnels, dug into the soft, porous tufa rock that underlies much of the city, was created in the early Christian era for the burial of the dead. They were also used as clandestine meeting places at a time when Christians were persecuted by Rome's emperors. But the colourful frescoes that adorn the ceilings and walls of the catacombs are being eaten away by microorganisms, a phenomenon that experts say is being accelerated by climate change. Rising temperatures have increased humidity levels inside the underground burial sites, encouraging the growth of bacteria, moss and fungus. The alarm about the rampant art-eating fungus has been raised by a Vatican department, the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology. 'The survival of frescoes which were created 2,000 years ago is at risk,' said Monsignor Pasquale Iacobone, the head of the department. 'There is an increase in the proliferation of vegetation, and the damage is unprecedented. It's the effect of climate change and the increase in outside temperatures.' Ancient Romans, who cremated their dead, banned Christians from burying corpses within the walls of the capital. So the Christians instead dug underground passageways for the interment of their dead, eventually excavating around 300 km of tunnels beneath Rome. They wrapped the dead in shrouds and laid them to rest in rectangular niches that were carved out of the tunnel walls. Among the treasures under threat are striking frescoes in the San Callisto Catacomb, which mark some of the earliest surviving examples of Christian art. San Callisto, the biggest and most famous of Rome's catacombs, was established in the second century AD and contained the remains of about half a million people, as well as seven popes who were martyred in the third century AD. 'Along with the six catacombs that are open to the public, the problem is affecting all 400 of the decorated chambers that exist in Rome's 60 catacombs. We are seeing an unexpected increase in biological infestations,' Barbara Mazzei, an archaeologist and an expert on the catacombs, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. While the problem underground is high humidity, the issue above ground is a lack of moisture – high temperatures and drought conditions mean that trees are sinking their roots deeper, breaking through the ceilings of the catacombs and penetrating the frescoes. The confined, subterranean nature of catacombs and the lack of ventilation mean that it is hard for experts to use chemicals such as biocides to combat the growth of bacteria and mould. Instead, they are experimenting with natural products that are not harmful to humans, including essential oils made from lavender, thyme and cinnamon. The threats faced by the catacombs were revealed at a seminar in Rome organised by the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Many of the catacombs lie beneath the Appian Way, the 'regina viarum' or 'queen of roads' that once ran from Rome to the distant port of Brindisi on the Adriatic coast. In 2010, the earliest known icons of four of Christ's apostles were discovered on the ceiling of an elaborately decorated chamber in a catacomb beneath the streets of Rome. Scientists used advanced laser technology to remove a hardened crust of dirt and calcium deposits to bring to light the brightly coloured fourth-century paintings of Saints John, Paul, Andrew and Peter. The images adorn the ceiling of a vault, carved out of volcanic rock, which provided the last resting place of a rich Roman noblewoman who converted to Christianity. Archaeologists also found an early image of Christ, a painting of a naked Daniel with lions at his feet and a sketch of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The catacombs of Santa Tecla, a labyrinth of tunnels, galleries and burial chambers, lie hidden beneath a five-storey office in Ostiense, a residential area of Rome.
