The Italian Culture Ministry has allocated nearly €1.5 million toward conservation and restoration of the ancient Roman-era Jewish catacombs at villa Torlonia, which date from the 2nd to the 5th centuries CE. The Ministry allocated €1,440,000 for the catacomb complex in its budget for 2017; details of the planned work were not immediately available.
“We are speaking of a monument of the highest historic and cultural relevance that bears witness to when, already in ancient Rome, a large Jewish community lived in the city,” Culture Minister Dario Francescini was quoted as saying. “Because of this the Ministry decided to support the restoration of the complex, which is in need of significant conservation interventions.”
Italy’s Jewish leadership has been urging state support for the maintenance and conservation of the site for years.
Franceschini added that the Ministry had “shared the justified concerns of our friends of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, with which we will collaborate to render this extraordinary cultural complex alive and accessible to all.”
According to Corriere della Sera newspaper, funds originally had been allocated for the restoration in the 2016 budget, but were not implemented.
The catacombs, which lie under villa Torlonia on Rome’s via Nomentana, were discovered by chance in 1918 and occupy some 12,000 square meters. They include 3828 burial niches. The walls and ceiling are decorated with paintings of menorahs and other Jewish symbols as we as animals and geometric and floral motifs.
The complex is one of five Jewish catacombs complexes in Rome — most of which are closed to the public.
Click to see a photo gallery of the Villa Torlonia Catacombs
Click to read an article about Rome’s ancient Jewish catacombs, with a focus on villa Torlonia
1 comment on “Italy to fund conservation of the villa Torlonia Jewish catacombs in Rome”
I am the son of Italian Jews.My grandparents were deported to Auschuwitz. The Jews of Italy were there a long time. Italy should recognize and remember their Jewish past too.