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Palaeo-Christian Necropolis and Museum

The Early Christian Necropolis and the Basilica Cemetery

Palaeo-Christian Necropolis and Museum, Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

Palaeo-Christian Necropolis and Museum, Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

From the late period, burials tended to be grouped together to form authentic open-air cemeteries. This area is the likely burial site of the remains of Fructuosus, Augurius and Eulogius, martyred in 259 AD in the amphitheatre’s arena, and must have marked the beginning of a dense Necropolis located around the tomb of the saints. At the beginning of the 5th century, a basilica cemetery was built in memory of the martyrs. The quantity and quality of the burials that occupied the basement of the basilica and the annexed crypts shows the importance of the building and the desire to be laid to rest next to the relics of the saints (ad Sanctos).

In the cemetery, ground burials predominate, inside amphorae, wooden coffins or under tegulae (flat and overlapping), crowned by mounds of various shapes (rectangular plan and truncated cone section, in the shape of a mensa (table), etc.)

AUDIOGUIDE

11. The Paleochristian necropolis

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SIGNGUIDE

11. La necròpolis paleocristiana

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