Catacombs of Rome

When people in Rome died a long, long time ago, they would often be buried in a special place called the catacombs. These catacombs were basically underground tunnels that were dug out by hand.

Inside the catacombs, there were lots and lots of small caves, called niches, where the bodies were placed. The niches were kind of like little beds made out of stone.

The reason people were buried in the catacombs was because they were very important to the early Christian religion. Back then, Christianity was a new religion that wasn't very popular, and the Roman government didn't like it very much. So, the Christians had to bury their dead in secret, and the catacombs were a safe place to do that.

The catacombs were used for many, many years and lots of people were buried there. In fact, there are over 40 catacombs in Rome! Even though the catacombs were used a long time ago, we can still visit them today to learn about what life was like in ancient Rome.