In response to Pope Francis’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, Italy will open Villa Randanini, one of only a few Jewish catacombs in Rome (as opposed to 40-some Christian catacombs) from May 1 until June 5.
In Religion News:
Giorgia Calo, cultural councilor for the Jewish Community of Rome, on Tuesday (March 29) welcomed the move to highlight Jewish history in Italy, saying that Jews “have always been a part of the history of the capital.”
The Jewish catacombs, like the Christian ones, lie outside the walls that once encircled ancient Rome.
Discovered beneath the vineyard of Villa Randanini in 1859, the Jewish burial site consists of a labyrinth of tunnels that stretches for nearly 200,000 square feet at a depth of 15 to 50 feet beneath the surface.
The catacomb tours are one of 20 itineraries being launched, also in conjunction with the 500th anniversary of the Jewish ghetto in Venice.
Read the story here.
Image from International Catacomb Society.