Sant'Antioco, Catacombs

The catacombs, carved into the rock, are located under the floor of the parish church dedicated to Sant'Antioco Sulcitano.
The hypogeum of Sant'Antioco was not built from scratch as a catacomb but dates back to the Punic era, when chamber tombs were excavated. Around the 4th-7th centuries A.D. the individual tombs were united by opening passages in the common walls and it is for this reason that the catacombs are quite irregular.
Two main groups can be identified: that of Sant'Antioco and that of the mother, Santa Rosa, who, according to popular tradition, was also martyred in Sardinia.
The catacomb called “of Sant'Antioco”, built between the 4th and 7th centuries AD, is accessed from the church, through some steps in the transept d. The hypogeum consists of an apsidal room (A) whose vault is supported by six columns and at the center of which is a sarcophagus where the remains of the martyr would have been kept. Behind this first environment there is a second (B) considered the “retrosanctos” cell, that is, the room where the most eminent figures of the Christian community were buried. The burials that are concentrated in this cell are of different ages and types (paving pits, arcosoli, niches dug into the walls, multiple burials, bunk boxes). The walls still have traces of paintings dating back to about the 4th century AD. The catacomb has two other rooms (D and E), now united by an opening but which, originally, were two separate Punic tombs. Room D leads to an elongated room (C) with traces of decoration from the 5th century AD and some Christian inscriptions. Room C leads to room F and then to room G, the latter considered by tradition to be the place where Antiochus retired to pray and died even before being reached by Roman soldiers. Inside there is a tomb different from all the others: it is of the type called “canopy”, with pillars that rise up to the vault, dating from between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The catacomb called “of Santa Rosa” is located under
the basilica. The hypogeum is accessed, in fact, from a staircase on the d. side of the church. The catacomb is small, with only two Punic hypogea connected. Inside there are numerous burials, mostly of the “box” type of tuff.
At the current state of studies, the real extent of the two catacombs is unknown: probably, in addition to the two known nuclei, there are other environments that are, slowly, emerging thanks to ongoing archaeological investigations.

History of excavations
The first excavation campaign in the catacombs is due to Antonio Taramelli (1921). The last one was conducted in the late 1980s by the Pontifical Commission for Christian Archaeology.

Bibliography
A. Taramelli, "S. Antioco. Esplorazione delle catacombe sulcitane di Sant'Antioco e di altri ipogei cristiani", in Notizie degli Scavi, 1921, pp. 142-176;
C. Tronchetti, S. Antioco. Sassari, C. Delfino, 1989 (Sardegna archeologica. Guide e itinerari; 12);
L. Porru-R. Serra-R. Coroneo, Sant'Antioco. Le catacombe, la chiesa martyrium, i frammenti scultorei, Cagliari, Stef, 1989;
P.G. Spanu, La Sardegna bizantina tra VI e VII secolo, collana "Mediterraneo tardoantico e medievale. Scavi e ricerche", Oristano, S'Alvure, 1998, pp. 47-55;
P.G. Spanu, Martyria Sardiniae. I santuari dei martiri sardi, collana "Mediterraneo tardoantico e medievale. Scavi e ricerche", Oristano, S'Alvure, 2000, pp. 83-95.