Catacombe di San Senatore

The Catacombs of San Senatore at Albano Laziale developed within a former pozzolana quarry beside the Appian Way. Burial galleries and painted crypts preserve the early Christian history of the local community.

Why it matters

The cemetery connects the archaeology of burial with the later veneration of saints and martyrs. Successive painted layers show that the site retained a devotional role beyond its earliest use.

What to notice

A fresco of Christ with figures associated with patronage and the martyrs of Albano belongs to the late fifth or early sixth century. An earlier image identified as Saint Senator depicts a young man in tunic and mantle. A later Byzantine-style Christ Pantocrator, with the Virgin and Saint Smaragdus, adds a medieval layer to the crypt's decoration.

Context and history

Christian burial began here around the end of the third and beginning of the fourth century, adapting the worked quarry. Early medieval references connect the site with the saints of Albano. After a period of obscurity, the catacombs were rediscovered in 1720. The later church and convent of Santa Maria della Stella add another religious phase above the underground cemetery.