The Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

cemetery and archeological site in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Dating from the 4th century AD, the necropolis contains many decorated tombs,

mausoleums A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the Chamber tomb, burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's Cadaver, remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be ...

, and burial chapels from the

Early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

period. It is one of the most significant Roman cemeteries outside of Italy. Because of its size, unique architecture, artistry, and testimony to the spread of Christianity in the

Late Roman Empire In historiography, the Late or Later Roman Empire, traditionally covering the period from 284 CE to 641 CE, was a time of significant transformation in Roman governance, society, and religion. Diocletian's reforms, including the establishment of t ...

, the necropolis was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2000.

History

In the 1st century AD, what would become western Hungary was incorporated into the Roman Empire as part of the province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

. Soon thereafter, the town of Sopianae was founded where modern-day Pécs stands, by colonists from the west who had intermarried with the local Illyrian-Celtic people. By the 4th century, the town had become prosperous because of its location at the crossroads of multiple trading routes. A cemetery was built to the north of the town, where it was used for Christian burials until the dissolution of the Roman Empire. The first of the chambers was rediscovered and excavated in 1782, after the demolition of a Renaissance-era palace. Further excavations in the 20th century led by Otto Szőnyi and architect István Möller uncovered more tombs.

Description

In total, the necropolis contains 20 excavated monuments and over 500 more modest graves clustering around the major monuments. This represents one of the largest and densest collections of burial monuments in the northern and western Roman provinces. The monuments were for the wealthy families of Sopianae and served as both the burial site and the location of the burial ceremonies for these families. The necropolis has two stories: a network of underground chambers, catacombs, and crypts built out of limestone where the dead would be buried in sarcophagi or brick tombs, and above-ground chapels and mausoleums built on top. The burial chambers are richly decorated with murals depicting scenes from Christianity (including images of the Apostles, Jonah, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), in addition to floral, and geometric patterns. In some of the chambers, portraits of the interred line the walls.

References

{{reflist Necropoleis Tourist attractions in Pécs World Heritage Sites in Hungary Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Hungary 18th-century archaeological discoveries Cemeteries in Hungary Archaeology of early Christianity Christian cemeteries