The catacomb of Santa Lucia documents the vitality of the Christian community in Syracuse since the first half of the 3rd century.
The funerary area, still partially unexplored, is located below the current Piazza di Santa Lucia, and consists of a community cemetery and some privately owned hypogea.
Some areas of the catacomb were transformed into areas of worship in the period following the funerary use, in particular the “troglodytic” oratory, transformed into a cistern in the 15th century.
This room was once decorated by the fresco of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, dating back to the first half of the 6th century, brought to light during the excavations conducted by Paolo Orsi between 1916 and 1919.
